Alligator kills 71-year-old man fishing in Florida pond

A 71-year-old man fishing in a pond in Winter Garden, Florida, was dragged into the water and killed by a nearly 12-foot alligator on Friday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The victim was identified as Steve Hamilton, according to Florida wildlife officials.

The attack happened around 5 p.m. in Dr. Bradford Memorial Park, which has several small ponds connected to the larger Lake Apopka. The place is well known for its alligators. The park even has a crossing called Gator Bridge.

“Lake Apopka is home to tons of alligators, so it’s not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town,” Winter Garden Police Capt. Michael Mason said Friday evening.

The fisherman was on land at the time of the attack and went into the water, Mason said. An 11-foot, 8-inch alligator was trapped and removed from the scene, the FWC said.

“Always be aware of your surroundings, always be safe. Local wildlife, respect them, keep your distance. They look like they’re docile, they look like your Florida icon, but they can be dangerous.”

Hamilton is the second person killed by an alligator in Florida this year. Brittany Clark, 31 years old, was killed in June while swimming in Little Big Econ State Forest near Orlando. Her boyfriend and friends tried to save her, but she was later pronounced dead. On the 911 callwe hear someone say that she lost an arm and almost her second and that she was “losing a lot of blood”.

“It’s bad,” her boyfriend said during the 911 call. “It’s really bad. Please hurry up.”

Alligator attacks in Florida are still quite rare, although the state is home to hundreds of thousands of animals. Aside from 2022, when there have been 23 attacks on humans, the total number of attacks typically hovers around a dozen each year, according to the FWC.

There were 13 attacks last year in Florida, including eight major attacks, two of them fatal, the data shows. There have been 32 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since tracking began in 1948. There have never been more than three fatal attacks in a year.

The two fatal attacks in 2025 involved Cynthia Diekema, 61, who was attacked while canoeing in Polk County in May; and Deborah Herndon, 73, who was found dead in December in a residential pond in Pinellas County.