A 71-year-old man fishing at a pond in Florida was dragged into the water and killed by a 12ft alligator.
Steve Hamilton was on the shoreline of a pond in Dr. Bradford Memorial Park in Winder Garden at 5.20pm on Friday when he was pulled in, WOFL reported.
Emergency crews attended the scene after receiving a 911 call and attempted to rescue the local musician, but nearby alligators caused difficulties.
Hamilton’s body was later recovered from the water after an hour, authorities said.
Speaking to the publication, Captain Michael Mason, Winter Garden police department, said the pond has ‘tons of alligators’ in it.
‘That is not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town,’ he continued, telling locals to ‘be aware of their surroundings.’
He added that the alligator ‘looks like it’s docile. It looks like your Florida emblem, but it can be dangerous.’
The Winter Garden police department confirmed that Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) authorities trapped and killed the gator.
Witnesses at the park said Hamilton had just reeled in a catch when he was attacked by the alligator.
Beatrice Soto told WFTV: ‘He caught a bass. He held it up for whoever it was to take a picture of him, and the gator came up and grabbed him by the leg and pulled him in.’
Jason Handley, who was at the park when emergency services responded, told News 6 he saw the alligator being pulled from the water.
‘When we got here, all the rescue people and everything was over on this side. It had the drones, everything in the air,’ he said.
The FWC said in a statement (via People): ‘The FWC extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the victim during this time.
‘This is an active investigation, and this is all the information available at this time.’
Speaking to WFTV, Jax 5th Avenue managing partner Christine Pompilio paid tribute to Hamilton, a musician in the area.
‘We were shocked because it’s such a tragic event, and he was well known in the music industry here in the Orlando area for almost 40 years,’ she said.
She said his band had played at the venue several times, continuing: ‘The band was the Bone Bros Band. He was very, very talented, played different instruments, and like I said, would share all that knowledge with everybody that came along and joined in.’
Pompilio said that, in 2020, she helped Hamilton and his band organise a memorial at Jax after one of his bandmates died, after which, he did not perform there.
‘He was in his retirement just spending his afternoon fishing, and you know, they’re shocked. They’re sad,’ she added.
‘He was just such a kind soul, kind-hearted man, very generous with his time, as I said with other musicians, so I think he’ll be really missed in the in the community.’
She said she plans to have a memorial at Jax for musicians and fans to remember Hamilton.
This is the second fatal alligator attack in central Florida this year after Brittany Clark, 31, of Orlando, died from injuries suffered in an alligator attack on the Econlockhatchee River.
Clark was hiking with her boyfriend, Chance Allison, her friend and dogs in the Little Big Econ State Forest, just northeast of Orlando.
She was stood in just three feet of water while the group stopped to swim when she was attacked by the reptile.
The alligator lunged and grabbed Brittany’s arm, dragging her into a death roll – a violent spinning manoeuvre alligators use to overpower prey.
Chance managed to pull Brittany out of the water, but by that point, she had suffered catastrophic injuries.
Despite medics finding a faint pulse, Brittany died en route to the hospital, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. She was pronounced dead at 2.48pm.
Wildlife officers later captured and euthanised two large alligators believed to have been involved in the attack – one measuring 12.5ft and the other 13ft.