Florida snipers covered good Samaritans who dived into an alligator-infested water to search for a missing mother and her son, according to reports.
The victims, 80-year-old Nieves Matos, and her 56-year-old son, Mario Laza, were traveling along the Florida Turnpike in Miami on Friday when they lost control of their car and dashed into a retention pond off the highway.
Witnesses jumped into the water, and police rescue teams followed, according to WSVN.
However, responding officers realized that the waters were teeming with alligators — and had snipers surround the rescuers to stop any potential attacks.
Footage from the incident shows snipers lying on their stomachs with guns trained on the water as alligators swam around the pond.
The 80-year-old woman was eventually located and pulled from the water and survived the incident. Unfortunately, her son died after being rushed to a local hospital.
Relatives of the mother and son set up a GoFundMe page in the wake of the tragic incident to help cover funeral expenses.
