Steve Hamilton, 71, was killed on Friday after an alligator dragged him into a pond in Winter Garden, Florida. Mr Hamilton was fishing on the shoreline when the animal attacked, according to local police and the state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission, as reported by Florida news outlet WOFL.
Emergency crews responded to a 911 call at approximately 5.20pm on Friday and attempted a rescue, but faced difficulties due to nearby alligators. Mr Hamilton’s body was recovered from the water a couple of hours later.
Capt Michael Mason of the Winter Garden police department told news media that the alligator involved in the fatal attack had been killed. He noted that authorities had not received any alligator sighting alerts for the pond on Friday, which is connected to Lake Apopka and known to have many alligators.
Alligator attacks are statistically rare, though at least 34 people have been killed by them in Florida since 1948, according to the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission. This incident follows the death of Brittany Clark less than four months ago, who was killed by a 13ft alligator while swimming in the Econlockhatchee River.