Florida Alligator Attack: 58-Year-Old Man Rushed To Hospital, Gator Euthanized

An alligator attacked a man in Florida Tuesday evening, injuring him, local sheriff’s office said. The attack comes one week after a 2-year-old boy was killed in another gator attack at a Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, about 60 miles from where Tuesday’s incident occurred.

The alligator, about 8-and-a-half to 9-feet-long, attacked the 58-year-old man in Bushnell, Sumter County. The man sustained wounds to his right leg and was airlifted to Ocala Regional Medical Center, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.

Following the attack, Florida Wildlife Commission gator trappers euthanized the alligator, Sumter County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Battalion Chief Brian Tucker said, according to CBS News. The alligator weighed approximately 300 pounds, Tucker said.

Last Tuesday, 2-year-old Lane Graves was snatched by an estimated 6-foot alligator. The child had been wading in shallow waters at the edge of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort.

Officials said that Graves suffered a few puncture wounds and likely drowned. Five alligators were taken from the site and euthanized.

According to estimates from Florida authorities, only about seven unprovoked alligator bites per year need special medical treatment. However, the number of these attacks is increasing by about 3 percent annually.