Newly released body camera footage shows the moment authorities kill a giant alligator that recently killed a Florida woman.
Last September, a man in Pinellas County, Florida, noticed what appeared to be a human corpse hanging from the mouth of a giant alligator.
“It was a horrible experience,” witness Jamarcus Bullard said. WVT At the time, he said, “I noticed what appeared to be the lower half of a body in the mouth, so when I saw it I immediately ran to the fire department, called them and had them confirm that it was a body.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called to the horrific scene and found the body of 41-year-old Sabrina Peckham in the alligator’s mouth. Commission body camera footage shows officers using ropes and chains to capture the massive gator. Suddenly, one of the officers is seen shooting the animal with a rifle, “humanely” killing it.
The 14-foot-long crocodile was later dissected and parts of Peckham’s body were found inside.
Peckham was a homeless woman living in a campground about 35 to 45 feet from the canal where the alligator attack occurred. Investigators found no evidence that an alligator attacked the woman at the campground in Largo, Florida.
Ms Peckham’s family last saw her the day before the fatal crocodile attack, and park rangers reported seeing the woman near the canal a week before her tragic death.
Peckham’s daughter, Breanna Dorris, shared her grief at a vigil in September.
“It feels surreal but I’m so grateful that the community can come together at times like this and it shows we have an incredible support team behind us in times of tragedy,” her grieving daughter said of her mother’s death.
Doris posted on Facebook: read“The past 24 hours have been filled with sadness, grief and excruciating pain for our family. My mother, Sabrina Peckham, is the victim of a crocodile attack in McKay Creek. She was one of the homeless people living in nearby woodland. We believe she was walking in the dark to or from a campsite near the creek when she was attacked by the crocodile.”
Since the fatal accident, Pinellas County has installed fences and signs warning people to stay away from the canal.
Known as McKay Creek, the canal connects Ridgecrest Lake and Taylor Lake, and alligators have been known to use the waterway to travel between the two lakes.
You can see the chilling body camera video here here.
Do you like Blaze News? Bypass censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here!
