Fort Pierce, Florida –
An 85-year-old woman died after being attacked by an alligator while walking her dog in a senior residential area on Florida’s Atlantic coast, officials said.
A woman was walking her dog by a canal on the Spanish Lakes fairway near Fort Pierce on Monday afternoon when she saw an alligator about 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall, according to St. Lucie Sheriff Ken Mascara. attacked the dog.
A trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission then tracked down the alligator, and a deputy helped put the alligator on the truck. It was taken from the scene.
“The FWC is in charge of the investigation, but we supported helicopters and personnel,” Mascara said.
The woman’s name has not been released. Officials said the dog survived the attack, but its condition was not immediately known.
Fatal alligator attacks are rare, but they do happen. In 2016, 2-year-old Lane Graves was killed by an alligator while vacationing with his family from Nebraska at Walt Disney’s His World. Hundreds of gators have moved out of the area since then.
Fort Pierce is located about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach.
