FORT PIERCE, Fla. – An 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator while walking her dog in a senior living community on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, officials said.
The woman was walking her dog on Monday afternoon beside a canal in Spanish Lakes Fairway near Fort Pierce when the nearly 11-foot (3.3-meters) gator attacked the dog, St. Lucie Sheriff Ken Mascara said.
A trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission later tracked down the gator and deputies helped get it on a truck. It was taken from the scene.
“FWC is in charge of the investigation, however, we assisted with a helicopter and manpower,” Mascara said.
The woman's name has not been released. Officials said the dog survived the attack, but its condition wasn't immediately known.
Fatal alligator attacks are rare, but they do happen. In 2016, 2-year-old Lane Graves was killed by alligator as he was vacationing with his family from Nebraska at Walt Disney World. Since then hundreds of gators have been relocated from the area.
Fort Pierce is about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach.