An elderly fisherman who was attacked by an alligator last week died after suffering a blunt-force injury to his left leg and drowning, according to the medical examiner.
Steven Hamilton, 71, was attacked by a 12-foot alligator near Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park on Friday, with horrified witnesses watching the incident unfold.
Witnesses said Hamilton had just caught a fish and was posing for a photograph when the predator surged from the lake and clamped onto his leg.
The medical examiner’s office said the injury to Hamilton’s left leg was fatal. However, he remained alive as the alligator pulled him into the water.
Hamilton’s death was classified as an “accident,” with the cause listed as “blunt force injury of left leg and drowning,” the office told the Daily Mail.
The fatal attack happened only a short distance from Hamilton’s home in Winter Garden, at a busy section of the public park where he often went fishing.
Winter Garden Police Department Captain Michael Mason said alligators are frequently seen in the area, about 15 miles west of Orlando.
“Lake Apopka has tons of alligators in it,” Mason said. “It’s not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town.”
Steven Hamilton, 71, of Winter Garden, Florida, was killed by an alligator while posing with his catch along the shores of Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park near Orlando.
Video shows around a dozen trappers struggling to remove the alligator linked to Hamilton’s death from the lake. Officials pulled the animal out by its mouth before shooting it.
Mason urged residents to maintain their distance from local wildlife, including alligators.
“It looks like it’s docile, it looks like your Florida emblem,” he said. “But it can be dangerous.”
Hamilton was a longtime fisherman from Winter Garden and an experienced musician who had performed on the Orlando circuit. He died at the scene from his injuries.
First responders said retrieving his body from the lake took considerable time because several alligators continued to circle the area after his death.
Footage from the aftermath captures a team of about a dozen trappers working to bring the alligator responsible for the attack out of the water.
The officials hauled the animal by its jaws from the lakeside and across a nearby grassy bank before killing it.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the alligator was decapitated, and its head was retained as evidence.
Florida officials said the alligator was decapitated, with its head preserved as evidence.
Hamilton was a seasoned Winter Garden fisherman and veteran musician on the Orlando circuit. He is pictured at center right with fellow members of the Bone Bros Band.
Locals at the park said Hamilton was a regular at the popular fishing spot.
‘He was out there almost every single night fishing,’ said Connor Kelley told WESH2.
‘Every time it was a, “Hey Steve, how’s it going?” You know, just checking in.
‘He was a very kind man. Very relatable. I heard from someone else in town that he had helped her kids with fishing down there a few times.’
Orlando native Christine Pompilio said Hamilton was ‘well known in the music industry here in the Orlando area’ through almost four decades of playing in local bands.
Pompilio, who is managing partner at Jax 5th Avenue in Lake Mary, said Hamilton used to play at the venue with Bone Bros Band.
‘He was very, very talented, played different instruments, and would share all that knowledge with everybody that came along and joined in,’ she told WFTV9.
It comes less than four months after 31-year-old Brittany Clark was killed by a 12-foot alligator in another nature spot just outside of Orlando.
It comes less than four months after 31-year-old Brittany Clark (pictured) was killed by a 12-foot alligator in another nature spot just outside of Orlando
Clark had been enjoying a hike in the picturesque Little Big Econ State Forest with her boyfriend and friend when they took a dip in a river in June.
Chilling 911 audio from the scene previously revealed how an alligator stealthily approached the trio before viciously attacking Clark by tearing off both of her arms.
A medical examiner’s report obtained by the Daily Mail also gave more details about Clark’s final moments, including how her boyfriend heroically fought the gator even as it dragged them both underwater into a ‘death roll’.
A ‘death roll’ is a technique alligators use to subdue prey by violently twisting onto their backs before attempting to pull the victim underwater to drown them.
The report describes how Chance Allison risked his life and eventually managed to pry his girlfriend from the gator’s jaws – but it was too late to save her.
Alligator attacks on humans are rare in the US, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission, but alligators are more territorial during mating season, which lasts from April until the end of June.
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