LARGO, FL — As disc golf enthusiasts return to their regular matches at Taylor Park in Largo following the death of a man believed to have been killed by an alligator at the park, a Seminole resident provided a frightening perspective on the last thing the park visitor might have seen before he died.

On Tuesday, Foster Thorbjornsen posted a video on his Facebook page showing a bull alligator lunging toward him as he videotaped the reptile in Taylor Lake.

“While walking in a park yesterday near my home in Seminole, I saw a large alligator floating in a lake 20 feet from the shore. He was the biggest alligator I have seen in the wild (8 to 10 feet long),” Thorbjornsen said, describing the encounter on Facebook.

“I stopped to take close-up pictures of him with my zoom lens, while he stared back at me with cold dark menacing eyes. When I turned my gaze away from him to check my camera, he quickly swam to shore and charged at me, stopping when he was almost completely out of the water about 10 feet away from me,” Thorbjornsen said. “The timing of his charge was deliberate. He waited for me to turn and look away. It was nerve wracking and intense.”

Thorbjornsen said it was only afterward that he recalled reading the story of Sean Thomas McGuinness, 47, who is believed to have been killed by an alligator at the same lake two weeks earlier.

McGuinness’ body was spotted floating near the shoreline of Taylor Lake around 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 31, by a resident walking his dog at John S. Taylor Park, 1100 8th Ave. SW.

The 53-acre lake at the park is a well-known alligator habitat. In fact, due to the large population of gators, the city of Largo has posted “No Swimming” signs around the lake.

However, the park is also home to a popular disc golf course. And, sometimes, the…