DELTONA -- A Volusia County Sheriff's deputy is recovering after he was bitten by an 8-foot alligator as controversy continues over his actions.
It happened Thursday night at Brightside Apartments in Deltona.
Someone living there called about the gator walking around the parking lot.
When Deputy Keith Baughman arrived, he jumped on the alligator in an attempt to catch it.
The gator bit the deputy in the leg, and that's when witnesses said Baughman opened fire on the reptile.
The deputy was taken to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach in stable condition.
A trapper with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called in to destroy the gator. The trapper said Baughman was lucky because the alligator was capable of ripping a leg off and could have killed the deputy with what is known as the "death roll."
A spokesman with the sheriff's office said it was a case of bad judgment on the deputy’s part. Florida Fish and Wildlife said no one, except trappers, should ever make physical contact with a gator.
"Keep your hands off the alligator. Don't touch a live alligator. I can't say it enough," said Joy Hill from the Florida Fish and Wildlife.
Fish and Wildlife officials said drier lakes are driving gators into public places as they search for other lakes.
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