South Carolina woman is killed by an alligator after encountering the reptile near a small pond

South Carolina authorities say a woman died after having an 'alligator encounter' near a pond off Kiawah Island. 

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office said in a Friday Twitter post that deputies responded to the pond near Salt Cedar Ln, Kiawah Island, after getting reports of an alligator encounter with a woman. 

Deputies shared that the woman has died. Her identity has not been released.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office said in a Friday Twitter post that deputies responded to the pond near Salt Cedar Ln, Kiawah Island, after getting reports of an alligator encounter with a woman

A deputy on the scene found the gator and fatally shot it before retrieving the reptile

A deputy on the scene found the gator and fatally shot it before retrieving the reptile. 

Deputies were joined by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and a coroner at the scene. 

The incident is still under investigation, the sheriff's office said in the post. 

South Carolina rarely has any serious alligator attacks, according to the Charleston Post and Courier.   

The July 2016 death of a 90-year-old woman near a West Ashley extended care facility was the state's first fatality associated with alligators.