Tucson Hatchet Attack, South Carolina Alligator Incident, and Texas Record Fish Catches Reported

In Tucson, Arizona, Jacob Couch was critically injured in an unprovoked hatchet attack while waiting at a bus stop at 6 Avenue and Broadway with his wife, Kristen Couch. The couple, originally from Los Angeles and married for 11 years with two daughters, were traveling to Arab, Alabama, after mourning the loss of their son. On April 5, Daniel Michael allegedly struck Jacob in the neck with a hatchet. Michael was arrested three days later and is being held in Pima County Jail on a $1 million bond, facing two counts of aggravated assault. In South Carolina, Joseph Roeser, 84, was attacked by an alligator in his garden at Sun City Hilton Head. His wife, Marian, intervened using a tomato plant stake to fend off the animal, ultimately saving her husband. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office responded, and Joseph was hospitalized with leg and head injuries. The Department of Natural Resources later euthanized the aggressive alligator. In Texas, Art Weston from Kentucky, with guide Captain Kirk Kirkland, caught a 153-pound, 7-foot-3-inch alligator gar in Lake Livingston using an ultra-light 2-pound test line after a four-hour, two-mile battle. The catch is pending as an IGFA world record for the largest freshwater fish ever caught on ultra-light tackle. Additionally, David Esslinger and his team landed an 884-pound bluefin tuna in the Gulf, setting a new Texas state record and surpassing the previous 876-pound record from 2021.