Steven Hamilton, Orlando, Florida fisherman killed in alligator attack at Lake Apopka was taking photo of self with catch when 12ft gator crept up behind him, only to slip as he tried running away.
New details have revealed a 71-year-old Florida fisherman who was killed in an alligator attack last week died while trying to take a photo of himself holding a new catch only for an 11 foot reptile to creep up behind him and grab his leg and submerge him.
Steven Hamilton according to witnesses at Lake Apopka at Dr. Bradford Memorial Park was trying to take a photo with a fish he had momentarily caught, when an alligator grabbed him by the leg and pulled him underwater according to the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner’s Office report.
Florida fisherman slipped trying to escape predator alligator
At the moment the alligator emerged from the water, Hamilton had turned to run only to lose his footing — giving the predator the split second it needed to latch onto his left leg and yank him under, witness Jason Handley told the the Daily Mail.
‘He heard the gator come out of the water and started to run away,’ Handley, 37, told the outlet.
‘He slipped and fell, and the gator grabbed him and dragged him into the water. It just snatched him in there,’ he added.
After some time, the alligator — which was about 11 feet, 8 inches long — brought Hamilton to the surface but did not let go.
Handley said that several people attempted to save Hamilton by chucking traffic cones at the alligator — but kept their distance because the lake is ‘infested’ with alligators, some of which are up to 15 feet in length.
Trappers eventually subdued the gator and freed Hamilton, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
His cause of death was determined by the medical examiner to be blunt force injury to the left leg and drowning.
Florida fisherman remembered
Handley told described the seasoned angler and Orlando musician as a ‘very happy guy.’
‘He always had positive things to say,’ he said.
‘He was always fishing there, and he would show me the fish he had caught.’
Connor Kelley, a fellow regular at the park, recalled learning about the incident to WESH.
‘As I was leaving to go home, I heard someone say apparently it was an older gentleman who fishes there every night, and just immediately my stomach dropped because I was so worried it was Steve, and it turns out it unfortunately was,’ said Kelley.
Hamilton’s fellow fisherman described the victim as ‘kind and generous.’
A contracted nuisance alligator trapper was dispatched to the area following the incident and removed the alligator from the park, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
‘The FWC extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the victim during this time,’ a spokesperson told PEOPLE. ‘This is an active investigation, and this is all the information available at this time.’
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