Bodycam video shows moment authorities put to death massive alligator that killed 41-year-old Florida woman



Newly released bodycam video shows the moment that authorities put to death a massive alligator that had recently killed a Florida woman.

Last September, a Florida man noticed what appeared to be a human body hanging out of the mouth of a huge alligator in Pinellas County.

The witness, Jamarcus Bullard, told WTVT at the time, "I noticed it had a body in its mouth, like a lower torso, so once I saw that, I ran straight to the fire department and got them, they confirmed it was a body."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called to the grisly scene and discovered the body of 41-year-old Sabrina Peckham was in the alligator's mouth. Bodycam footage from the FWC shows authorities wrangling the massive alligator with ropes and chains. Suddenly in the bodycam video released last week, one of the officers is seen using a rifle to shoot and "humanely" kill the animal.

The gator – nearly 14 feet in length – was later dissected, and some of Peckham's remains were found inside the beast.

Peckham was a homeless woman who lived in a campsite roughly 35-45 feet away from the canal where the alligator attack occurred. Investigators found no evidence that the alligator attacked the woman at the campsite in Largo, Florida.

Peckham's family last saw her a day before the deadly alligator attack. A park ranger reported seeing the woman near the canal a week before her tragic death.

Peckham's daughter, Breanna Dorris, shared her grief during a vigil held in September.

The heartbroken daughter said at the time of her mother's death, "It's surreal, but I'm super grateful her community can pull together in times like this. It shows we have an amazing support team behind us in times of tragedy,"

Doris wrote a Facebook post that read: "The past 24 hours have been filled with grief and sorrow and unbearable pain for our family. My mother, Sabrina Peckham, was the victim of the alligator attack at McKay Creek. She was a part of the homeless population living in the nearby wooded area. It's believed she may have been walking to or from her campsite near the creek in the dark when the gator attacked."

Since the fatal incident, Pinellas County has installed fencing and signs warning people to stay away from the canal.

The canal, known as McKay Creek, connects Ridgecrest Lake and Taylor Lake. Alligators have been known to use this waterway to travel between the two lakes.

You can watch the chilling bodycam video here.

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'I felt like Batman': Video shows MMA fighter, Marine veteran wrestling aggressive alligator at Florida elementary school



Viral video shows an MMA fighter and Marine veteran wrestle with a 10-foot alligator near an elementary school in Florida.

A large alligator was in the parking lot of the Northwestern Legends Elementary School in Jacksonville's Moncrief community on May 21.

To deal with the hulking gator, authorities called in Mike Dragich – a licensed Florida alligator trapper, MMA fighter, and Marine veteran.

"We get there, I walked through the gate, and boom," Dragich told WOFL. "There it was, just ready to go right there in the parking lot, and we just had to get the job done."

A crowd of roughly 200 people gathered at the elementary school to witness the dramatic showdown of man versus beast.

Video shows the Florida man grabbing the gator by its tail as the onlookers gasped and cheered.

The aggressive alligator viciously snapped at Dragich and vigorously spun during a death roll.

Dragich used a catch rod to hook the alligator and wear the animal out.

He said, "If you don't get these animals tired, they will hurt you, if not kill you."

Finally, Dragich was able to subdue the wild animal, and several firefighters sat on the alligator's back to prevent it from escaping.

Dragich told WJXT that he put down the alligator and hopes to use the meat for a cookout with the people of Moncrief.

"I felt like Batman. I was there. These people [were] scared to death of this alligator," he said.

Dragich drew parallels between trapping alligators and MMA fighting: "A lot of fighters will understand that … when you go to the cage, you’re nervous, but once that cage door closes, you gotta be focused."

When asked if he is crazy for tussling with alligators, Dragich responded, "I am Florida man – that's what I have to say to that."

He delivered a warning about interacting with alligators, "I always tell people be very careful and don't do what I'm doing, on social media. But, I can promise you, that the animals are respected and they are dealt with in a professional manner each and every time, regardless of what it may look like on social media."

He posts videos of himself wrangling alligators on his "Blue Collar Brawler" Instagram page.

Dragich says he shares alligator videos online to garner attention so that he can direct people to the plight of veterans with the purpose to "get these veterans the help that they need."

Dragich is the founder of Project Savior Outdoors – an organization with a mission of fighting "PTSD and Veteran suicide by connecting with the great outdoors and sharing the true freedom that comes through Jesus Christ!"

"My heart goes to our veterans dealing with PTSD and the issue of veteran suicide," Dragich said.

Dragich was shot when he was a teen, then joined the military and served in Afghanistan. Once returned from the Marines, he became an MMA fighter.

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Must see: MMA fighter wrangles massive alligator in front of Florida crowd www.youtube.com

Florida man loses arm in alligator attack, survives being lost in the woods for 3 days. He now has new mission in life after being 'reborn.'



A Florida man was able to not only evade death from a grisly alligator attack during which he lost his arm, but he also survived being lost in the woods for three days.

Eric Merda got lost in the woods at the Lake Manatee Fish Camp in Myakka City on July 17. As he walked in the park about 50 miles south of Tampa Bay, he encountered a lake. Instead of walking around the lake, he decided to swim across.

"Not the smartest decision a Florida boy could make," Merda told WTSP this week in his first interview since the alligator attack.

"I look over and there's a gator on my righthand side so I went to swim, and she got my forearm so I grabbed her like this, she was trying to roll, but she snapped her head, so my arm went backwards like this completely," Merda explained.

The 43-year-old Florida man said he was fighting for his life as the 7-foot-long alligator dragged him underwater three times.

"She's already got my arm, so when we came up the third time, she finally did her death roll and took off with my arm," he said.

Merda described the excruciating situation, "Bones poking out, muscles, if I try to move my fingers, you could see it twitching."

Merda said he was in tremendous pain all three days that he was lost.

"I was screaming at the top of my lungs," he said.

Merda said he couldn't see anything and it took three days for him to find his way out of the swamp.

"I felt like I was walking in circles, I didn't know," he said. "So I followed the sun and power lines, stuff I could see."

Merda recalled the moment that he found help. He told a man, "I said a gator got my arm, he said, 'holy smokes man!'"

He was airlifted to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where doctors amputated what was left of the arm.

He told himself, "There’s no way that this is real. My arm is gone. I don't have an arm anymore. There’s no way. I have to be dreaming or something."

'Gator got my arm': Man survives 3 days lost in the woods after alligator attack www.youtube.com

However, Merda sees a silver lining to his traumatic experience.

"I came out the swamp, naked, with one arm,” Merda told WFLA. "I was reborn for a reason, and I believe that is to motivate people."

He said he now has a new mission in life and he plans to use the near-death experience to become a motivational speaker.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife said an alligator trapper removed a 6-foot and a 9-foot gator from the lake four days after the attack.

Merda has an important message, "Do not feed the gators, and you guys know who you are, throwing rocks at them. I've seen it on the job sites, leave them gators alone."

Also this week, a 77-year-old woman was attacked by an alligator in nearby Bradenton. The woman was taken to the hospital to be treated for her injuries from the alligator attack.

There have been six serious alligator attacks in the Tampa Bay area since March. Three of the incidents were fatal.

Sarasota man lost for three days in Lake Manatee after losing his arm in gator attack in July www.youtube.com

'A walking miracle': Drone captures moment Florida man is mauled by a large alligator. He fought off attack but had his skull crushed.



A Florida man barely escaped death when he experienced a head-on confrontation with a large alligator on Aug. 3. The harrowing scene was captured on video by a drone flying above the lake.

Juan Carlos La Verde, who also goes by the name J.C. Defeats, was swimming in Lake Thonotosassa, about 20 miles northeast of Tampa. La Verde was being recorded with a drone hovering above for a video for his company. He accidentally forgot to bring his swimming goggles for swimming in the murky water.

Chilling drone video reveals the moment that La Verde swam straight into a 12-foot-long alligator and was mauled. The alligator snapped at La Verde, and the animal clenched its jaw on the man's head and upper torso.

Pointing to the right side of his head, La Verde said, "I was chomped down on this side, like completely."

La Verde – a former U.S. Air Force pararescue veteran and current firefighter – fought for his life.

"An unbelievable amount of faith in myself that I wasn’t going to die," he recalled of the fight with the alligator. "I was going to be OK, but I needed to act for sure."

With the alligator's jaw clamped on his head, he put his hands into the animal's mouth.

"So, what I think I did, what I felt like I did, was that I immediately tried to open its jaws because I knew I was in a gator," J.C. told WFTS.

"When I felt the teeth, I immediately knew, and then as I opened it, I knew that I either turned it or it turned me, but it was confused just as I was confused, and then it just let go," he explained. "She let go, and she didn’t have to let go."

J.C., who is a triathlete, frantically swam to the dock.

A good Samaritan drove him to the hospital. During the drive, La Verde called 911 to inform emergency officials about the alligator attack.

La Verde underwent emergency surgery for six hours. He spent eight days in the hospital.

(WARNING: Graphic video)

JC Defeats a 12 foot gator www.youtube.com

La Verde's wife said her husband is "a walking miracle."

Christine La Verde told WTVT, "The bite crushed his skull, and it punctured his brain, so they ended up having to do a craniectomy – remove part of his temporal lobe."

The alligator attack broke his jaw and damaged a facial nerve.

J.C. had his jaw wired shut and needs to wear a helmet to protect his vulnerable head. He will need another surgery in the future.

J.C. offered words of inspiration to others struggling and advised them to keep their faith.

"I’m asking you to be tough because the world is a really difficult place, and, man, is it challenging to maneuver without God and ultimately Jesus Christ in your heart," he said. "Find your God. Find him. I get that that's scary, I do, but life is a scary place, so you can carry that load by yourself or have someone carry it for you."

This is the fourth serious alligator attack in the Tampa area since March. The other three incidents were fatal.




Elderly Florida woman killed by alligators at golf course



A Florida woman was killed after she was attacked by two alligators at a golf course.

Shortly before 8 p.m. on Friday, an elderly woman accidentally fell into a pond at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Witnesses said the Englewood woman struggled to get out of the pond. Meanwhile, two alligators attacked the woman.

"While in the water, two alligators were observed near the victim and ultimately grabbed her while in the water," a news release said, according to WPTV-TV.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, according to WINK-TV. The woman's identity has not been revealed yet.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) found two alligators at the golf course pond. The FWC said the one gator was 8-feet, 10-inches-long, and the other was 7-feet, 7-inches-long. The FWC removed the animals from the golf course.

It is not known for sure if the two alligators were involved in the fatal attack.

In late May, a man was killed by an alligator about 85 miles north of the deadly golf course incident.

The body of Sean McGuinness, 47, was found in an alligator-infested lake in Largo on May 31, according to the Largo Police Department.

McGuinness was reportedly searching for lost golf discs at Taylor Lake when he was attacked. He was missing three limbs when he was found in the Tampa-area lake.

The FWC noted that alligators are found in all 67 counties in Florida.

"In recent years, Florida has experienced tremendous human population growth. Many residents seek waterfront homes, and increasingly participate in water-related activities. This can result in more frequent alligator-human interactions, and a greater potential for conflict."

Woman dies after falling into pond, grabbed by gators www.youtube.com