Alligator kills woman walking her dog in South Carolina, police say

A 69-year-old woman was killed by an alligator while she was out walking her dog on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, police said.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, officials responded to a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon by a golf course, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said.

Officials discovered the woman, who appeared to be unresponsive, at the lagoon's edge. 

"Rescue efforts were made and an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts," the sheriff's office said. "The gator was safely removed from the area and the woman’s body was recovered."

It is unclear where the woman was taken into the water. 

The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office is expected to perform an autopsy on the woman.  

This is the county's second fatal alligator attack in less than a year. The last one was in August when an 88-year-old woman was killed near her home by an alligator at a lagoon.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.