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The woman, 31, was kneeling in the shallow part of a river in Seminole County, in Central Florida, when an alligator bit her, authorities said.
Scott McIntyre / The New York Times, File
updated on July 1, 2026 | 11:11 AM
2 minutes to read
An alligator bit the arms of a 31-year-old woman who was cooling off in a river after a hike with friends Sunday in a state forest in central Florida, causing severe injuries that led to her death, authorities said Monday.
The woman, her boyfriend and a friend were kneeling in about 3 feet of water in the Econlockhatchee River, after a walk in the Little Big Econ State Forest in Seminole County when the alligator attacked, they said.
Her boyfriend called 911 for help at about 1:30 p.m., saying she had been bitten on both arms, Officer Chad Weber, a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said at a news conference Monday.
“He was trying to get her from the alligator’s mouth,” Weber said.
In the 911 call, according to an excerpt broadcast by WESH 2 News, the man described her condition as “bad, real bad,” adding, “Please hurry.”
Weber said in a text message Tuesday that the woman “had severe injuries to both arms.”
The woman, who was identified Tuesday as Brittany Clark of Orlando, was treated by emergency medical personnel, but she died on the way to the hospital, Weber said.
After the attack, the alligator released its hold on the woman and remained in the area, authorities said.
She died of “multiple blunt force injuries of the upper extremities,” the Office of the Medical Examiner said in a statement.
Lt. Grant Eller, an investigator with the commission, said at the news conference that authorities captured a 12 1/2-foot alligator and a 13-foot alligator and were conducting DNA tests to determine which one bit her.
Weber, reached by telephone Tuesday, said that alligators have been “very active and highly territorial” as the mating season comes to an end and lower water levels, caused by a statewide drought, propel them to search for new habitats.
“They are seeking different areas, and are moving around quite a bit,” he said.
Maj. Jay Russell, the commission’s regional commander, called the fatal attack “incredibly tragic.”
It was the third alligator attack in recent days in Florida in June. In Marion County, in north-central Florida, a boy was bitten on the hand by an alligator while fishing on the Ocklawaha River on Saturday, WESH reported.
On June 21, the Fish and Wildlife Commission briefly closed the Rainbow River in Marion County after an alligator bit and injured a man as he was snorkeling, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and local news reports.
Such attacks are rare, Weber said. Florida had an average of eight unprovoked alligator bites a year over the 10-year period that ended in 2022, according to the commission.
The commission has been warning people to be cautious in or near the state’s coastlines and bodies of water during alligator mating season, which runs from early April to the end of June. In a state popular with enthusiasts of water sports and outdoor activities, alligator encounters inevitably occur.
In May 2025, a woman died after she was bitten and pulled underwater by an alligator that tipped over the canoe she and her husband were paddling in Polk County, south of Orlando, authorities said.
Florida’s alligator population exceeds 1 million, making it one of the largest in the United States. When an alligator bites and releases, the behavior indicates a territorial tactic.
Weber said that the fatal attack Sunday appeared random and unprovoked.
In all of Florida’s 67 counties, he added, “every body of water could potentially have an alligator.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
