PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Parents in north Florida posted several videos Sunday of an alligator roaming the grounds of a school in St. Johns County.
One video shows it walking through the grass inside the fence surrounding Valley Ridge Academy in Ponte Vedra Beach.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman said someone alerted the Nuisance Alligator Hotline Sunday morning and a trapper was dispatched, but the alligator got away before the trapper arrived at the school.
GATOR ON CAMPUS: Video from a parent shows an alligator at Valley Ridge Academy today in St. Johns County @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/l6NjfppdTh
— Brittney Donovan (@brittneyANjax) September 2, 2018
“I would be scared of it if I was on school campus right now. I was hoping no one else was there,” fifth-grader Jake Romano said.
He was among several students and parents alarmed when they heard the gator was so close to the school -- and where children play.
“If you got kids around, it could be something serious,” Carlos Arroyo said. “Worst-case scenario something bad could happen, and you never want that.”
Here’s another video of the gator at Valley Ridge Academy in St. Johns County. Parents tell me they heard a trapper was coming out but they aren’t sure if it was caught @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/RkBLFSAJAG
— Brittney Donovan (@brittneyANjax) September 2, 2018
Parents said they are warning their children to be careful at school.
“If there’s a body of water, my kids know you don’t go near it, because there’s always a potential of being a gator -- that’s Florida,” Michelle Shelton said.
Cox Media Group