WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — The 71-year-old man killed by an alligator while fishing at a Winter Garden park last week drowned after suffering a blunt force injury to his left leg, according to findings released Monday by the Orange County Medical Examiner Office. The office classified the death as accidental.
The attack happened Friday at Dr. Bradford Memorial Park, a spot where the man fished every day. Records show he was holding up a fish he had just caught and trying to snap a photo of himself when the alligator seized his leg and dragged him into the water. Neighbors saw it happen.
Winter Garden police and firefighters were called to the park around 5 p.m. after a 911 call. He died at the park, which sits on the shore of Lake Apopka about 15 miles northwest of Orlando, and rescuers brought his body out of the lake close to two hours later, at about 7 p.m.
A nuisance trapper hired by the state wildlife agency, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, pulled an alligator measuring 11 feet, 8 inches from the area. The wildlife commission and the Winter Garden Police Department are still investigating.
It is the second deadly alligator encounter in Central Florida this year. In June, a woman swimming in the Econlockhatchee River in the Seminole County area died after an alligator bit her.
Wildlife officers say residents worried that an alligator could hurt someone, a pet or property should phone the state Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR, and the agency will send a contracted trapper. An alligator is generally treated as a nuisance when it is at least 4 feet long and seen as a danger, or when it turns up somewhere it does not belong, such as a pool or garage. A University of Florida study released in April 2025 found risky human behavior is the leading cause of alligator bites in the state.
Section: More Orlando FL crime news
Filed under: Orlando FL Public Safety News
