Police: Fisherman attacked, killed by alligator in Winter Garden

Today, a 71-year-old man from Winter Garden was killed while fishing. He was attacked by an alligator here from Lake Apopka. The alligator is approximately 12 feet long and has been dispatched by FWC trappers. We are investigating jointly with FWC. There's limited information, obviously, we can share. That's all we can kind of say at this time. What time did you first respond, Roger? It was approximately 5 p.m. Was the man in the water while he was fishing, or was he still on the grassy area? No, he was on the shoreline. Was there only one alligator involved, or do you guys have cause to believe there were multiple? We believe there was only one alligator involved at this time. And it was that same alligator that passed? Yes. That was the alligator being dispatched. And by dispatched, just to be clear, shot? Removed as a danger to the public. This is obviously right next to Lake Apopka. We know that the water from the lake feeds into here, so it's common to see alligators out here. I mean, have you heard from anyone around here who said they saw a gator today, maybe in that particular area where that man was? Well, I mean, officers, even our own officers, it's not uncommon. Lake Apopka has tons of alligators in it, so that's not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town at all. But to be clear, there was no, you guys weren't alerted before that there was a sighting before this incident? No, no, we were not. We know that according to the Winter Garden Fire Department that they were trying to stay out of the water at that time because there were gators in it actively, which kind of hindered their recovery efforts. Can you tell us more about that? I'm really not prepared to kind of disclose additional details about the nature of the investigation until FWC kind of weighs in on that. Like I said, we are investigating this jointly with FWC and until they get a chance to weigh in here. Any message for fishermen who come out to places like Lake Apopka or elsewhere in Florida? So absolutely, 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.