Woman wanted to get close to alligator before attack in SC

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — A woman killed by an alligator at a South Carolina pond told a friend she wanted to get close to the animal and didn’t scream as it attacked her and dragged her into the water, according to a police report.

Cynthia Covert, 58, died in the attack Friday afternoon on Kiawah Island, Charleston County deputies said.

A deputy had to shoot and kill the alligator to get Covert away from the animal, according to the police report released Monday.

The woman Covert was staying with said she didn’t seem herself Friday and walked toward the alligator, which lunged and grabbed her in its mouth when she was about 4 feet (1.2 meters) away, deputies said.

Covert, of Johns Island, made no sound as the alligator pulled her under, the woman told police.

The woman’s husband and another man tried beating the alligator with shovels, but the animal swam deeper, the police report said.

When deputies arrived, the alligator kept surfacing with Covert and going under. One officer was able to shoot the animal as it surfaced again, police said.

Firefighters used poles to get Covert out of the pond but she died at the hospital, authorities said.

An autopsy Monday found Covert died of drowning, the Charleston County Coroner’s Office said.