A late night swim ends in fatal attack for 28-year old man
This is not how anyone envisions a midnight swim ending. After warnings that an alligator has been seen in a Texas marina, a 28-year old man was fatally attacked when he entered the water.
Tommie Woodward was attacked and killed by an alligator when he took a dip in the early hours of the morning at Southeast Texas Marina on Friday.
According to the Associated Press, the Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and a Texas game warden found the man’s body at 4:30 am.
Tommie was warned not to jump in the water to swim before he was attacked by the alligator.
Justice of the Peace Rodney Price told KFDM that Tommie and a woman were standing at a landing on the dock before he jumped in.
When the woman heard Tommie scream for help, she jumped into the water. Then she felt something brush up against her.
Despite owners of the marina putting a sign in place to warn swimmers of the dangers of swimming in the area, Tommie and the woman had picked the spot for a quick swim that night after leaving the marina’s bar.
KFDM also reported the pair had received a verbal warning to avoid swimming in the area in case of the alligator appearing.
Thankfully the woman with Tommie at the time managed to escape the attack without any injuries.
A police Captain in the area, Robert Enmon told the Associated Press that in recent times a very large alligator had been spotted at the marina on multiple occasions.
Enmon noted that despite this being the only fatal attack he's seen in his 25-years of service; "you've got to remember that alligators are a predatory species, they are territorial, and they will take advantage of an opportunity."
The owners had decided to put signage in place in order to prevent and swimmers from coming into contact with the alligator.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Tommie from entering the water.
The fatal attack is suspected to have been from the same alligator that the owners had been on the look-out for recently. The alligator is estimated to be 11 feet long.
