An 85-year-old woman was killed by a 10-foot alligator in Fort Pierce, Florida, wildlife officials said Monday. According to officials, the woman was walking her dog in the Spanish Fairways Lakes Retirement Area at the time of the attack.
Neighbors told CBS News that the alligator suddenly emerged from the water and pulled the woman from below.
“The victim has been recovered and the gator involved in the incident has been captured by a contracted gator fisherman,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement.
Videos and photos of the aftermath showed at least six people fighting with the large crocodile at times before it was loaded into the back of a pickup truck.
Saint Lucie County Sheriff’s Office
Neighbors told the CBS affiliate WPEC-TV The Gates were not an uncommon sight in the area, but they had not seen an attack like Monday’s.
The victim was not immediately identified.
The FWC said the woman’s dog survived the attack.
Several roads in the area were closed while police and the FWC investigated the attack. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office provided air support for the FWC while the Wildlife Commission searched for the gator, according to WPEC.
The FWC said that alligators do not usually attack people and that deaths from alligator attacks are rare. In the past 10 years, the commission said, alligators in Florida averaged only eight unprovoked bites requiring medical attention each year.
Lilia Luciano contributed reporting.
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