Alligator attacks and kills woman who was walking her dog in South Carolina

A woman who was walking her dog was killed in an alligator attack in South Carolina Tuesday morning, authorities said, marking the second fatal gator attack in the county in less than a year.

According to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded at about 9:30 Tuesday morning to a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon bordering a golf course in the Spanish Wells community on Hilton Head Island. A 69-year-old resident of the community was located at the edge of the lagoon and appeared to be unresponsive, officials said. 

"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."