Vigilantes kill 400lb alligator that ate man who ignored warning signs and jumped into the marina where it lived for a swim

  • The 11ft gator who killed Tommie Wooward on Friday was found with some of his body parts, Justice of the Peace Rodney Price confirmed 
  • Woodward, 28, lost his left arm from the elbow down during the attack and also had puncture wounds on his chest 
  • A group of men claimed they set out a trap for the 400lb gator and dragged it out of the water after shooting it on Monday 
  • Killing an alligator is a class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500  
  • He mocked the gator before jumping into Burkhart's Marina in Orange, despite his friends' desperate pleas to stay out of the water  

By Anneta Konstantinides For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 22:08 EST, 6 July 2015 | Updated: 02:08 EST, 7 July 2015

The 11-foot alligator who killed a man that jumped into a Texas marina last week has been fatally shot in the head. 

It was shot off of Burkhart's Marina in Orange, the same place where it killed Tommie Woodward early Friday morning. 

The gator was found with some of Woodward's body parts, Justice of the Peace Rodney Price told 12News. 

Scroll down for video 

Pictured is the corpse of the 11ft alligator who killed Tommie Woodward, 28, when he jumped into Burkhart's Marina in Orange, Texas early Friday morning 

Pictured is the corpse of the 11ft alligator who killed Tommie Woodward, 28, when he jumped into Burkhart's Marina in Orange, Texas early Friday morning 

A group of men claimed they set out a trap for the 400lb alligator earlier today and shot it in the head before they dragged it out of the water

A group of men claimed they set out a trap for the 400lb alligator earlier today and shot it in the head before they dragged it out of the water

Woodward (pictured) lost his left arm from the elbow down during the attack and had puncture wounds on his chest
An autopsy revealed he was drowned by the gator

Woodward (pictured) lost his left arm from the elbow down during the attack and had puncture wounds on his chest. An autopsy revealed he was drowned by the gator 

A group of men claimed they set out a trap for the 400lb gator earlier today and shot it in the head before they dragged it out of the water.

Killing an alligator is a class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500, Texas Parks Wildlife Capt. Rod Ousley told the Beaumont Enterprise. 

Ousley said the men should have called the department and waited for the game warden instead of shooting the gator themselves. 

There are currently no suspects in the alligator's killing.  

Woodward was drowned by the gator, an autopsy revealed. 

The 28-year-old lost his left arm from the elbow down during the attack and also had puncture wounds on his chest, according to Orange Police Capt. Robert Enmon.  

Texas Game Warden Mark Nelson and others look at the alligator's corpse. There are currently no suspects in the alligator's killing, which is a class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500

Texas Game Warden Mark Nelson and others look at the alligator's corpse. There are currently no suspects in the alligator's killing, which is a class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500

 Texas Game Wardens get assistance from Orange firefighters as they life the alligator's body into the back of a truck on Monday 

 Texas Game Wardens get assistance from Orange firefighters as they life the alligator's body into the back of a truck on Monday 

Woodward mocked the alligator and ignored both the desperate pleas' of his friends and warning signs put up by employees when he went swimming around 2.30am at the private marina.

'He said blank the alligators and thereupon jumped into the water,' Price toldKFDM 6, seeming to censor himself.  

Price said Woodward 'almost immediately yelled for help' after he hit the water and an unidentified woman, who was unharmed, jumped in after him. 

Michelle Wright, an employee at the restaurant, saw the entire horrific scene unfold after she pleaded with Woodward not to get into the water. 

'Next thing I know this girl is screaming "an alligator's got him, an alligator's got him"', Wright told KFDM 6, recalling the scene. 

'I don't even know how long it was, I saw his body floating face down and then he's up there for a couple seconds and then he gets dragged back down and pulled off.' 

Woodward suffered severe trauma to a limb and his body was found nearby about two hours later, according to Enmon.

'I kept...calling his name and calling his name and he just, he was dead,' said Wright about her friend. 'And it's heartbreaking.'   

A group of people pose for a photo with the alligator's body at Burkhart's Marina on Monday 

A group of people pose for a photo with the alligator's body at Burkhart's Marina on Monday 

The owners of the marina recently had spotted the large alligator on a few occasions, and put up a sign warning people to stay out of the water, police have said

The owners of the marina recently had spotted the large alligator on a few occasions, and put up a sign warning people to stay out of the water, police have said

Justice of the Peace Rodney Price said it appears Woodward was bitten soon after he jumped in
Woodward was the first person killed by an alligator in Texas since 1836

Justice of the Peace Rodney Price said it appears Woodward was bitten soon after he jumped in

The owners of the marina recently had spotted a large alligator on a few occasions, and put up a sign warning people to stay out of the water, Enmon said.  

The reptile could have been startled early Friday or was possibly protecting its habitat, Enmon said.

Authorities said alligators in the area had also been displaced by recent heavy rain which, combined with the fact that they're currently in breeding season, could make them more territorial, the New York Daily News reported. 

'You've got to remember that alligators are a predatory species, they are territorial, and they will take advantage of an opportunity,' Enmon said. 

Woodward was the first person killed by an alligator in Texas since 1836.  

Woodward had only recently come to Orange from St Louis, making the move with his twin brother to work at a shipyard.   

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