One local claimed the man was taken while trimming grass around the pond that their homeowners’ association had refused to cut when a huge, 11-foot alligator seized and killed him on Friday.
According to representatives of the Horry County Fire Department, the Myrtle Beach Golf and Yacht Club incident began with a water situation in a neighborhood pond.
Police spokesperson Mikayla Moskov stated that by the time they arrived at the scene at around 11.45am, “units determined that an alligator had seized hold of a neighbor, and withdrew into a neighboring retention pond.”
According to Horry County police, the victim was close to the pond when he was pulled in, and when they got there, they rescued him from the water.
The alligator was put to death right away by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and its alligator removal service.
The local population as well as visitors are not currently under threat, according to the authorities.
Residents have allegedly been asking for traps to be set up for years, according to a homeowner who posted on Facebook that the event occurred because the condominium complex failed to mow the grass surrounding the retention ponds.
Trea Donohoe said on a neighborhood Facebook group, “The entire reason it happened is because the HOA refused to cut the grass around the pond anymore, [so] the homeowner walked out there and took it upon himself to do it.” That’s how it happened, after all.
Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard stated that more information regarding the case will be made public on Monday. The death of the unidentified deceased is still under investigation.
Police issued a statement in which they expressed their condolences to the family and neighbors affected by this unfortunate tragedy.
For many years, alligators have been seen in the area.
Jason Repak, a local, posted a picture of an alligator emerging from a pond on May 8 and made the joke that three alligators must have escaped from a neighboring alligator zoo.
But after learning of the death on Friday, he replied to his tweet with the following statement: “I couldn’t have predicted that it was probably one of these alligators that would later murder a man.
“My arms are tighter around my kids and dogs near these ponds, and my prayers and heart go out to the family.”
There are numerous 12 to 14-foot alligators in the condominium complex’s retention pond, he told MyHorryNews, adding that there is a two-way road connecting the pond where the event happened on Friday and another retention pond behind his property.
That route is routinely crossed by alligators.
He claimed that when walking his dog in the area, he is always cautious.
We’ve never come close to them, he declared. “We take the dogs for walks in the median when we are close to that pond.” You just never know where they’re hiding, so we don’t walk them on that bank.
And to his knowledge, everyone has always treated the alligators with a healthy respect, treating them almost as members of the community, he claimed.
It’s a disaster that nobody could have predicted, to put it simply.