A 71-year-old man was fatally attacked by a nearly 12-foot alligator while fishing on the shore of a Florida pond on Friday evening. Steven Hamilton of Winter Garden was standing along the edge of Lake Apopka at Dr. Bradford Memorial Park, approximately 15 miles northwest of Orlando, when the incident occurred around 5 p.m., according to the Winter Garden Police Department.

Efforts to rescue Hamilton were hindered by the presence of multiple active alligators in the water, Winter Garden Fire Chief Jose Gainza said. Authorities recovered Hamilton’s body about two hours after the attack. This marks the second deadly alligator attack reported in Florida so far in 2026.

Earlier this year, in June, 31-year-old Brittany Clark of Oviedo died after being attacked by a 13-foot alligator near her home. Following Clark’s death, Republican U.S. Representative Greg Steube introduced a resolution calling for a study by the Comptroller General and the Department of the Interior on the impact of the American alligator’s protected status. The species has been listed as “threatened due to similarity of appearance” since its recovery in 1987, a designation intended to prevent trafficking and hunting of the American crocodile, a similar-looking species.

Steube has argued that since the alligator population has fully recovered, this protection may impede Florida’s ability to manage nuisance alligators in residential and commercial waterways.

Florida state data indicates that these two deaths in 2026 bring the total number of fatal alligator attacks in the state to 34 since 1948. Among previous victims were a 61-year-old woman who was tipped from her canoe by an alligator in 2025 and an 85-year-old widow who was dragged from her backyard while walking her dog in 2023.

Police Capt. Michael Mason noted that authorities were not warned about alligator activity near the lake’s shoreline before the incident, which is not unusual given Lake Apopka’s substantial alligator population. A joint investigation has been launched by local police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), whose trappers captured and euthanized the alligator involved in the attack.

Mason urged the public to remain vigilant and maintain a safe distance from wildlife, emphasizing the potential danger posed by alligators despite their common association with Florida's natural environment.