Final picture of fisherman killed by 12ft alligator taken moments before his death

This is the final image of a man who was dragged to his death by an alligator.

Steve Hamilton, 71, was fishing in Florida and posed with his catch moments before the creature – nearly 12ft in length – bit him on Friday.

The local musician was then dragged by the leg into the water at Dr Bradford Memorial Park, where he drowned and suffered a severe leg injury.

‘He caught a bass. He held it up for whoever it was to take a picture of him, and the gator came up and grabbed him by the leg and pulled him in,’ Beatrice Soto, a witness, told WFTV.

Emergency services responded to a 911 call and arrived at the park in Winter Garden – roughly 15 miles west of Orlando – at around 5.20pm local time.

Mr Hamilton was pronounced dead at the scene before his body was recovered from the water.

The alligator was removed from the area by a contracted nuisance alligator trapper, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Six people were involved in efforts to wrangle the animal before its mouth was secured shut and it was killed.

The agency said in a statement: ‘The FWC extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the victim during this difficult time.

‘This is an active investigation, and this is all the information available at this time.’

Captain Michael Mason of the Winter Garden Police Department said the pond where Mr Hamilton died has ‘tons of alligators’ in it.

‘That is not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town,’ he continued, telling locals to ‘be aware of their surroundings.’

He added that the alligator ‘looks like it’s docile’. ‘It looks like your Florida emblem, but it can be dangerous,’ he added.

Jason Handley, who was at the park when emergency services responded, told News 6 he saw the alligator being pulled from the water.

‘When we got here, all the rescue people and everything was over on this side. It had the drones, everything in the air,’ he told the outlet.