TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — New body camera footage shows the response to an unusual and scary situation— a rare and deadly alligator attack.
Sabrina Peckham, 41, was killed last September, but it wasn’t until months later that the investigator determined she died of an animal attack, and not foul play.
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The report details the circumstances surrounding the rare but deadly encounter, shedding light on the risk posed by Florida’s native wildlife.
The video shows the moment when an officer shot the alligator that attacked Peckham. Investigators went looking for the gator in the brush on McKay Street in Largo where Peckham, who was homeless, lived.
Investigators are not exactly how or when it attacked Peckham.
“It doesn’t appear to be any signs that an alligator has come up here,” a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer said, referencing where Peckham lived.
The gator was found in a canal that connects Taylor Lake and Ridgecrest Park.
“So that actually, makes sense that there was a big gator where she was because there’s big gators in between in this canal, actually a lot bigger than I thought it was,” an officer is heard saying in his body camera video.
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Peckham’s daughter said her mother was on the street and struggling and she still wonders how she came in contact with a 13.9-foot gator.
“She was trying to survive out there which is the main purpose that she was you know out there. she was just trying to stay off the streets to where she wouldn’t be arrested and just trying to live,” the victim’s daughter Breauna Dorris said.
While attacks are rare, alligator trapper Phil Walters said people should view this tragic attack as a warning.
“Always be aware of your surroundings. Let that predator know, stare it down. That oftentimes will stop an attack,” Walter said. “But if you’re triggering a wild animal, natural instincts by acting like its prey, well, you’re just inviting it.”
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