SUDDEN ATTACK

Disturbing Details Emerge in Fisherman’s Fatal Alligator Attack

The incident near Orlando was the second deadly attack in Florida this year.

#1

A fisherman who was killed by an alligator while standing on a Florida shoreline was showing off his catch just moments before the attack. Steven Hamilton, 71, was mauled by the animal while he stood on the banks of Lake Apopka at Dr. Bradford Memorial Park, just outside of Orlando, on Friday. It has now emerged that Hamilton asked for a photo of him holding a bass and gleefully posed for it just seconds before the alligator attacked him. “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,” eyewitness Beatrice Soto said. An autopsy of the 71-year-old also showed he suffered “blunt force” leg injuries as he was being dragged into the water by the nearly 12-foot-long alligator before being submerged, as well as suspected teeth marks in his left leg. Hamilton’s tragic death was ruled accidental. The alligator was later captured and killed by Florida Wildlife Commission trappers. The incident was the second fatal alligator attack in Florida this year, following the death of a woman in Seminole County in June.