1. On June 10 2012, Kaleb Langdale, 17, was swimming with friends in a river by the Gulf Coast of Florida, near Fort Myers, when a 10-foot alligator chomped down on one of his arms, then dragged him into a death roll. Kaleb knew he was about to die, so he put his foot on the gator’s mouth and tugged until his arm ripped off under the elbow, then made his way to the bank as the gator swam off with his arm. When he reached the bank, his friends called 911. The alligator was later shot and killed.
2. In August 2015, Rachael Lilienthal, 37, was swimming away from a crowded beach area near Wekiva Island, Florida, when an alligator clamped its jaws on her right arm and thrashed her around. A couple in a canoe hit the gator with their oars, and it swam off, but when they helped Rachael into their canoe, they saw that her arm had been bitten off just above the elbow. The alligator was shot and killed.
3. On June 2, 2018, Jordan Broderick, 15, was floating on a raft in a river in Florida’s Ocala Forest when a 9-foot alligator began stalking her. Jordan made her way to the shore, but the gator followed her, where it was joined by others. The terrified girl took refuge up a tree while her mother called 911. When the police arrived, they shot and killed the main alligator, and helped the girl, who was unhurt, to safety.
4. On June 8, 2018, at the Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park, a man called 911 after two loose, anxious pit bulls ran into the parking lot. He recognized them as two of the three dogs belonging to “an oriental lady” he’d seen earlier. The pit bulls led him to the back of the park, where he saw the third dog barking and bleeding, with a large gash in its side, and a 12-foot alligator lurking nearby. “I think an alligator got this lady,” said the caller. He was right. Shizuka Matsuki, 47, who may have been trying to save her dog, had been dragged off by the gator. When it was shot and cut open, Matzuki’s arm was found in its stomach.
