Just days after a horrific shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, another tragic incident occurred at the Disney World Resort just outside Orlando Tuesday.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office told reporters a 2-year-old was grabbed by an alligator and dragged into the water at a resort hotel Tuesday night. The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and the Seven Seas Lagoon.
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The 2-year-old was with his family from Nebraska and witnesses told the Sheriff’s Office the family was on the beach when the event occurred. The child’s 4-year-old sister was in a play pen 20 to 30 yards from the water when the boy ventured into the nearby water.
“The father actually went into the water to wrestle his son from the grips of the alligator,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said. “I don’t think we’ve had a child this young involved in an attack.”
The mother also went to try and find her child, but both were unsuccessful. Only the father suffered a minor injury when he got minor scratches on his hand.
Jeff Williamson of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday morning the search is still ongoing and is still being conducted as a search and recovery mission. The Sheriff’s Office is using more than a dozen boats, three of which have sonar, a helicopter, and a dive team in its search.
“It is tragic. It is heartbreaking. You know how a father must have felt. I cannot come to grips to what it must have been like,” Williamson said.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have reportedly taken four alligators out of the lake to euthanize and analyze them, but unfortunately none of them are the gator involved. The alligator that took the young boy is reportedly between four to seven feet long.
“We have not had any recent reports or complaints of nuisance gators in the area,” Demings said. “This is Florida and it’s not uncommon for alligators to be in bodies of water.”
There are “No Swimming” signs at the Seven Seas Lagoon, and nobody else was in the water.
“The sad reality of it is it’s been several hours and we’re not likely going to recover a live body,” Demings said. “We’re not leaving until we recover the child.”
The Disney World Resort did comment on the matter as well.
“Everyone here at the Walt Disney World Resort is devastated by this tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement,” Vice President of Walt Disney World Resort Jacquee Wahler said.
[CBS/Photo: @Shawn_Powers]
