Police: Alligator Drags Myrtle Beach Resident into Pond in Fatal Attack

A Florida alligator watches the action from the ninth fairway during third-round play at t
Al Messerschmidt/WireImage
Amy Furr

Authorities said an alligator dragged a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, resident into a pond on Friday, which resulted in the person’s death.

Fire crews answered a call in the Excalibur Court area near Myrtle Beach Friday morning and removed the victim and animal from a retention pond, NBC News reported Sunday.

In a social media post, the Horry County Police Department provided more information about the incident:

Around 11:45 a.m., Horry County Fire Rescue responded to a water rescue call in the area of Excalaber Court outside of Myrtle Beach. HCPD and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Section and SCDNR Law Enforcement Division responded to assist. Upon arrival, units determined that an alligator took hold of a neighbor who was near the edge of a retention pond and retreated into the retention pond. The SCDNR biologist and an SCDNR-contracted alligator removal service determined that the alligator should be humanely euthanized on site.

ABC 15’s Simon Williams reported Friday the occurrence happened at the Myrtle Beach Golf & Yacht Club.

Williams also shared video footage of rescue crews arriving at the scene with their sirens blaring:

According to the police department, authorities with the Horry County Coroner’s Office responded to the area, and the death investigation is ongoing.

“Our hearts go out to the family and community members impacted by this tragic incident,” the department’s post continued.

The American alligator is the sole crocodilian native to the state, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) website:

Though once listed as a federally endangered species, populations have rebounded and the alligator’s status has been upgraded to threatened due to its similarity of appearance to the threatened American crocodile. Populations of alligators in South Carolina have done so well, that the DNR instituted a hunting season in 2008.

“American alligators can live to be more than 60 years old and attain lengths greater than 13 feet,” the agency concluded.

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