In a harrowing incident, a colossal 14-foot alligator was discovered on Friday, gripping the lifeless body of a Floridian in a canal. The shocking encounter unfolded on a residential street in Largo, a quaint community just four miles south of Clearwater.
"I could tell there was a body in his mouth, so I started recording," recounted witness JaMarcus Bullard to Spectrum Bay News 9. Bullard, en route to a job interview, promptly alerted the nearby Largo Fire Department, positioned just steps away from the grisly scene.
Emergency responders swiftly extracted the alligator from the water and, as Bullard described, took decisive action. "A lot of my neighbors were out here and they’re the ones that told me about the gator," shared area resident Jennifer Dean with the outlet. "While we were standing here we heard a shot, I assume they killed the gator."
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that both the victim and the alligator were retrieved from the canal, though they declined to disclose whether they were responsible for the action taken.
At the site, investigators stood beside the bloodied alligator, which appeared to measure at least 10 feet in length. This area lies in proximity to the popular Ridgecrest Park, which encompasses a 5-acre lake known to be a habitat for alligators.
According to Dean, alligators are not an uncommon sight in the neighborhood. However, the one dispatched on Friday was among the largest she had ever encountered.
Investigators are presently working to ascertain the cause of the Floridian's untimely demise.