According to investigators, it’s likely people had fed the 12 foot alligator that killed a North Port man Friday night. It’s illegal in Florida to feed gators. 41 year old Kevin Murray was attacked when he jumped into a canal near Port Charlotte. He’d been mowing his employer’s lawn and jumped into the water to clean up. Officials found Murray dead… then went to look for the animal. That’s according to Charlotte County Sheriff’s spokesman, Bob Carpenter.

They were looking for the gator when he went under water. And they were wearing these lanterns on their hats—these kind of coal-miner hats. They did located the gator with the brightness of his eyes showing. So they fired a bow and arrow with a rope on it. They managed to penetrate the gator and bring him to the boat—with him thrashing. They then fired to shotgun shells into the gator’s head and killed it.“

By law, any alligator that attacks a human must be destroyed. Wildlife officials will conduct a necropsy of the animal at a lab in Gainesville… that includes examining the contents of its stomach. Alligators kill their prey by pulling them underwater—and drowning them. Carpenter underscores the importance of NEVER FEEDING ALLIGATORS… and thereby eroding their natural fear of humans.