An elderly fisherman killed by an alligator last week tried to flee before slipping and falling, allowing the predator to seize his leg, a friend has said.
Steven Hamilton, a 71-year-old Florida native, was attacked by the 12-foot alligator beside Lake Apopka near Orlando on Friday evening as horrified witnesses looked on.
Jason Handley, who knew Hamilton, told Our News Outlet on Tuesday that the alligator may have targeted him because he had just caught a large bass—possibly the reptile’s next meal.
Hamilton had been posing for a photograph with his catch beside Lake Apopka in Dr Bradford Memorial Park when he heard the huge reptile coming out of the water.
‘He heard the gator come out of the water and started to run away,’ Handley said. At the time, Hamilton was about five feet from the shoreline.
‘He slipped and fell, and the gator grabbed him and dragged him into the water. It just snatched him in there.’
A medical examiner previously told Our News Outlet that the alligator seized Hamilton by his left leg. His death was classified as an ‘accident,’ caused by both ‘blunt force injury’ to the limb and drowning, according to the medical examiner.
Handley, a 37-year-old local landscaper who regularly saw Hamilton fishing at the lake, said several witnesses attempted to intervene by throwing traffic cones at the alligator.
Steven Hamilton, 71, of Winter Gardens, Florida, was killed by an alligator while posing with his catch on the banks of Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park near Orlando
Officials captured the alligator believed to be responsible for Hamilton’s death
Handley said Lake Apopka is ‘infested’ with alligators, some of which measure up to 15 feet long
He said witnesses stayed back because the lake is ‘infested’ with dozens of alligators, including several estimated to be up to 15 feet long.
Handley also described his own close encounter with an alligator at the same public park just days before Hamilton was attacked.
‘It was right by my foot, but I bonked it on the head with a fishing net,’ he said. ‘I told my girlfriend, somebody is going to get ate by one of these gators.’
On Monday evening, Handley went back to the lake to recover Hamilton’s fishing rod, which he said ‘went into the water with him’ during the attack.
The landscaper said he approached the shoreline ‘with a buddy who has a concealed carry license’ in case they encountered another aggressive alligator.
They were able to retrieve the fishing rod and later return it to Hamilton’s heartbroken wife, Susan.
Handley described Hamilton as a friendly and ‘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.’
SEE ALSO: Cornell Student Seeks Gag Order in University Investigation
Video shows a dozen trappers wrestling the alligator that killed Hamilton out of the water. Officials pulled the animal from the lake by its mouth before shooting it dead
Florida officials said the alligator was decapitated and its head taken as evidence
Hamilton was a seasoned fisherman from Winter Gardens and a veteran musician on the Orlando circuit. He is pictured center right with his bandmates from Bone Bros Band
Hamilton’s fishing rod, retrieved by Handley, is shown above beside a memorial for him
Emergency responders said recovering his body from the water was a lengthy process because several gators were circling in the lake after he died.
Video of the aftermath shows a dozen trappers wrangling the alligator that killed him from the water.
Officials dragged the animal by its mouth from the banks of the lake across the grass bank nearby before shooting it dead.
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said the alligator was decapitated and its head taken as evidence.
The victim lived just steps away from where he died, on a road backing onto the park in Winter Garden.
Hamilton was known as a frequent fisherman in the park, as well as a talented musician with four decades of experience playing with bands in Orlando.
His death 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 Our News Outlet 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.
