11-Foot Alligator Kills 71-Year-Old Fisherman at Winter Garden Pond in Florida
Steven Hamilton, 71, was fishing on the shore of a pond in Dr. Bradford Memorial Park on Friday when an 11-foot, 8-inch alligator dragged him into the water. Winter Garden firefighters recovered his body, and a trapper later removed the gator. It is the second fatal alligator attack in central Florida since June.
A 71-year-old fisherman died Friday after an alligator attacked him at a central Florida pond, dragging him into the water as rescuers struggled to reach him.
Steven Hamilton, 71, of Winter Garden was fishing on the shore of a pond in Dr. Bradford Memorial Park on Friday, Oct. 16, when an 11-foot, 8-inch alligator bit him, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Hamilton suffered serious injuries and died at the scene, the commission said in a statement to USA Today.
Winter Garden firefighters pulled Hamilton’s body from the water after arriving at the scene, according to Orlando-Daytona Beach NBC station WESH News 2, which reported that alligator activity in the pond slowed the recovery effort. A trapper later removed the alligator, which police believe came from nearby Lake Apopka.
“Lake Apopka has tons of alligators in it, so that’s not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town at all,” Winter Garden Police Department Capt. Michael Mason said at a press conference. “Always be aware of your surroundings, always be safe. Local wildlife, respect it, keep your distance. It looks like it’s docile, it looks like your Florida emblem, but it can be dangerous.”
Second fatal attack in central Florida since June
Hamilton is the second person killed by an alligator in central Florida since June 28, when 31-year-old Brittany Clark of Orlando died after an attack on the Econlockhatchee River near the Barr Street Trailhead in Oviedo, northeast of Orlando, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
Clark was kneeling in about three feet of water when the alligator attacked. Her boyfriend pulled her from the gator’s mouth, but one of her arms was bitten off and the other badly injured. She died on the way to the hospital. A 13-foot alligator was later captured and killed at the site, and another measuring 12 and a half feet was caught about a half-mile away.
Fatal attacks remain rare even as Florida’s gator population tops 1 million. The state logged two fatal attacks in 2025 out of 13 total, of which eight were major and five minor, according to the commission. A typical year brings about a dozen attacks, though 2023 saw 23, two of them fatal.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today, WESH News 2 and the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
