4 people, including kids, rescued after getting lost on alligator-infested trail near Lakeland <\/a><\/p>\nAuthorities said a gator latched onto Clark, causing \u201cserious injuries\u201d to both of her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like they were doing anything that was malicious to an alligator,\u201d said Chad Weber, public information officer for the FWC, during a news conference. \u201cThey were in approximately three feet of water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark\u2019s best friend and boyfriend helped her to shore after the attack and called 911.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boyfriend was the one who made the phone call,\u201d Weber said. \u201cHe was trying to get her from the alligator\u2019s mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
First responders then rushed Clark to a nearby hospital, but she ultimately died before reaching the facility.<\/p>\n
The FWC said witnesses described seeing a \u201cvery large alligator\u201d during the attack. A 13-foot alligator and 12.5-foot alligator were both captured and killed near the area. The FWC is awaiting testing results to determine if the gators were involved in the incident.<\/p>\n
A commander with the FWC called it an \u201cincredibly tragic incident\u201d during the news conference, and Weber shared condolences to Clark\u2019s friends and family.<\/p>\n
Clark\u2019s death was among three alligator attacks reported in Central Florida over the past week.<\/p>\n
A snorkeler was bitten by a gator along the Rainbow River in Marion County, and a child was bit on the hand while fishing on the shore at Nelson Fish Camp on the Ocklawaha River. Both the child and snorkeler survived their injuries, according to officials.<\/p>\n
Despite the recent incidents, the FWC said serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida.<\/p>\n
Investigators were still working Tuesday to determine exactly what led up to the attack in the Econlockhatchee River.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be any number of things,\u201d Weber said. \u201cWith low water levels that we have; we are coming into the end of mating season when alligators become very territorial. So it\u2019s any number of things, it\u2019s really hard to speculate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FWC said there can be a risk of encountering alligators when swimming in any body of freshwater in Florida. Individuals are encouraged to report concerns about an alligator to the FWC\u2019s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).<\/p>\n
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has identified a woman who was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[102149,134428,134705,82974,1618,28,8659,30,29,4747],"class_list":["post-325689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-alligator-attacks","tag-brittany-clark","tag-chad-weber","tag-econlockhatchee-river","tag-fla","tag-florida","tag-florida-fish-and-wildlife","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fwc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}