NORTH PORT, Fla. -- A man cooling off with a swim in a Florida waterway after a long day of lawn maintenance work was grabbed by an alligator and killed.
It marks only the 17th recorded fatal attack by an alligator in Florida history.
Witnesses said the man was grabbed by the arm as he swam Friday night in the Apollo Waterway in North Port, north of Fort Myers. He surfaced only once before he died.
A state trapper killed the alligator with two gunshots after it had been shot by an arrow with a rope attached and pulled alongside a boat.
The victim's mother said her son was a strong swimmer and aware of alligators.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the gator was 12-to-13 feet long.
It marks only the 17th recorded fatal attack by an alligator in Florida history.
Witnesses said the man was grabbed by the arm as he swam Friday night in the Apollo Waterway in North Port, north of Fort Myers. He surfaced only once before he died.
A state trapper killed the alligator with two gunshots after it had been shot by an arrow with a rope attached and pulled alongside a boat.
The victim's mother said her son was a strong swimmer and aware of alligators.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the gator was 12-to-13 feet long.
