After shooting at it, Blanton's 58-year-old stepson, Jack Hildreth, approached the animal and it sprung to life and attacked him.
"Whenever he raised up after my stepson, it looked like he was shot out of a cannon. I had never seen nothing like it," Blanton told WFLA.
"It was a burst of lighting like. It was just a surprise," Hildreth added.
A friend helped to pull Hildreth away from the alligator, which was killed by a licensed trapper. Hildreth was taken to the hospital with severe injuries while Blanton was arrested by deputies for unlawfully killing the gator. WFLA reports the family is now struggling with medical expenses for Hildreth and the $1,000 bail posted for Blanton, who is now out of jail.
Read more at WFLA.
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