Fisherman, 71, killed by 12-foot alligator alongside Florida lake

A 71-year-old man fishing on the shore of a Florida lake was killed Friday by a nearly 12-foot alligator, the second fatal attack reported this year.

Steven Hamilton of Winter Garden was standing on the shore of Lake Apopka at Dr. Bradford Memorial Park, 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of Orlando, when he was attacked around 5 p.m., the Winter Garden Police Department said.

The presence of other active alligators in the water complicated any chance of rescuing Hamilton, whose body was recovered about two hours later, Winter Garden Fire Chief Jose Gainza told FOX35.

Police Capt. Michael Mason said authorities were not alerted in advance that an alligator was near the lake’s shore, possibly because it “has tons of alligators in it.” He said police launched a joint investigation with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, whose trappers captured and killed the alligator.

Mason reminded people to be aware of their surroundings and respect wildlife.

“Keep your distance,” he said. “It looks like it’s docile, it looks like your Florida emblem, but it can be dangerous.”

After a 31-year-old Oviedo woman, Brittany Clark, was killed by a 13-foot alligator near her home in June, Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Steube introduced a resolution calling for the Comptroller General and U.S. Department of the Interior to study the impacts of the American alligator’s listing as “threatened due to similarity of appearance” on Florida’s ability to remove nuisance alligators from residential and commercial waterways.

He said the species has been fully recovered since 1987 but remains protected to prevent trafficking and hunting of the similar-looking American crocodile.

Using Florida state data, the two 2026 deaths bring the total number of individuals killed by alligators since 1948 to 34. Among them were a 61-year-old woman tipped out of her canoe by an alligator in 2025 and an 85-year-old widow who was dragged out of her backyard by an alligator while walking her dog in 2023.