Florida: Alligator killed after being discovered holding human remains in mouth

An alligator was spotted with human remains in its mouth by a passer-by in Florida.

The 13-foot reptile was spotted by Jamarcus Bullard in a canal in Largo, about 20 miles west of Tampa.

He said he saw the the alligator and a corpse in the water on Friday afternoon.

“I threw a rock at the gator just to see if it was really a gator and like it pulled the body, like it was holding on to the lower part of the torso, and pulled it under the water,” he told a TV affiliate of NBC News, Sky News’ US partner network.

Bullard said he started recording on his phone and contacted the authorities.

A video he shared with the news station showed an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission measuring the reptile.

The 13-foot, 8.5-inch male alligator was removed from the water and was “humanely killed,” the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, adding that the remains of an adult had also been recovered.

No details about the deceased have yet been released and an investigation is under way.

The medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

The discovery has left some locals nervous with Jennifer Dean telling WFLA that her children frequently walk by the canal.

Bullard also said he walks near the water to and from work and will be more careful now.