An elderly fisherman who was attacked by an alligator last week died from a blunt-force injury to his left leg and drowning, according to the medical examiner.
Steven Hamilton, 71, was fatally attacked by the 12-foot predator beside Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park on Friday, in front of horrified witnesses.
Witnesses said Hamilton was posing for a photograph with a fish he had just caught when the alligator suddenly surged from the water and clamped its jaws onto his leg.
The medical examiner’s office said Hamilton suffered a fatal injury to his left leg but remained alive as the alligator pulled him into the lake.
Hamilton’s death was classified as an “accident.” The office told Our News Outlet that the cause was “blunt force injury of left leg and drowning.”
The attack happened only a short distance from Hamilton’s home in Winter Garden, in a busy section of the public park where he regularly fished.
Winter Garden Police Department Captain Michael Mason said alligators are frequently seen in the neighborhood, which lies 15 miles west of Orlando.
“Lake Apopka has tons of alligators in it,” Mason said. “It’s not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town.”
Steven Hamilton, 71, of Winter Garden, Florida, was killed by an alligator while posing with his catch on the banks of Lake Apopka at Dr Bradford Memorial Park, near Orlando
Video shows a dozen trappers struggling to remove the alligator that killed Hamilton from the water. Officials pulled the animal from the lake by its mouth before shooting it dead
Mason urged residents to “keep your distance” from local wildlife, including alligators.
“It looks like it’s docile, it looks like your Florida emblem,” he said. “But it can be dangerous.”
Hamilton was a seasoned fisherman from Winter Garden and a veteran musician on the Orlando circuit. He died from his injuries at the scene.
Emergency responders said it took considerable time to recover his body because several alligators were circling in the lake after his death.
Footage from the aftermath shows about a dozen trappers working to pull the alligator responsible for the attack from the water.
Officials dragged the animal by its mouth from the lakeshore across a nearby grassy bank before shooting it dead.
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said the alligator was decapitated and that its head was retained as evidence.
Florida officials said the alligator was decapitated and its head was retained as evidence
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Hamilton was a seasoned fisherman from Winter Garden and a veteran musician on the Orlando circuit. He is pictured center right with his bandmates from Bone Bros Band
Locals at the park said Hamilton was a regular at the popular fishing spot.
‘He was out there almost every single night fishing,’ said 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.’
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.
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.
