Alligator attacks and kills woman walking her dog in South Carolina

A 69-year-old woman was out walking her dog on South Carolina's Hilton Head Island when she was attacked by an alligator.

The woman passed away from the alligator attack, according to Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

"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," reported JustTheNews.

Reports say that officials discovered the woman, who was unresponsive, at the lagoon's edge.

"Rescue efforts were made, and an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts," reported the sheriff's office.

"The gator was safely removed from the area, and the woman’s body was recovered," the sheriff's office said.

It is not clear where the woman was taken into the water. All that is known at the time is that it happened near the lagoon's edge.

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

This is not the first fatal alligator attack of the year.

The last attack happened last August when an 88-year-old woman was also killed near her home by an alligator. That incident occurred by a lagoon as well.