An elderly fisherman was killed by an alligator while posing with his catch on the shore of a popular lake in central Florida.
Steven Hamilton, 71, was fatally attacked by a 12-foot alligator beside Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park on Friday, as horrified witnesses looked on.
Hamilton was holding up a fish for a photograph when the alligator lunged, seized him by the leg and dragged him into the water, according to witness Beatrice Soto.
‘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,’ Soto told WFTV9.
Hamilton, a seasoned fisherman from Winter Gardens and a veteran musician on the Orlando circuit, died from his injuries at the scene.
Emergency responders said retrieving his body from the lake took time because several alligators were circling in the water after the attack.
Footage from the aftermath shows around a dozen trappers struggling to pull the alligator involved in the fatal attack from the lake.
Officials hauled the animal by its mouth from the lakeside and across a nearby grassy bank before shooting it dead.
Steven Hamilton, 71, of Winter Gardens, Florida, was killed by an alligator while posing with his catch on the shore of Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park, near Orlando
Video shows about a dozen trappers battling to remove the alligator that killed Hamilton from the water. Officials dragged it by the mouth across the bank before shooting it dead
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said the alligator was decapitated, with its head taken away as evidence.
People who live near the park said Hamilton was a familiar face and a regular visitor to the popular fishing location.
‘He was out there almost every single night fishing,’ 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.’
Jason Handley, another regular fisherman at the park, said he went to the scene on Friday soon after learning about the alligator attack.
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‘As I was leaving to go home, I heard someone say apparently it was an older gentleman who fishes there every night,’ he said.
‘Just immediately my stomach dropped because I was so worried it was Steve, and it turns out it unfortunately was.’
Florida officials said the alligator was decapitated and its head was taken as evidence
Hamilton, a seasoned Winter Gardens fisherman and veteran musician on the Orlando circuit, is pictured center right with his Bone Bros Band bandmates
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.
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’.
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
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.