A Texas man shouted three defiant words before jumping into alligator-infested water — and moments later, he was fighting for his life.

Tommie Woodward was just 28 years old when a late-night swim at a waterfront marina ended in a horrifying alligator attack that would make headlines across the country.

The tragedy unfolded around 2 a.m. in July 2015 at Burkart’s Marina on Adams Bayou in Orange, Texas.

Woodward had spent the evening playing pool and drinking at the marina when he decided to cool off in the dark water.

But bartender Michelle Wright desperately tried to stop him.

The marina’s owner had recently spotted an unusually large alligator lurking nearby and had posted a clear “No Swimming” sign warning visitors to stay out of the water.

Woodward, however, reportedly brushed off the danger. Locals had often swum in the bayou, and Texas had not recorded a fatal alligator attack since 1836.

He removed his shirt and wallet and headed toward the water with his girlfriend, Victoria LeBlanc.

That was when LeBlanc spotted an alligator beneath the docks and screamed a warning.

Woodward’s reply would become his chilling final words.

“F— that gator.”

Seconds after he entered the water, the massive reptile struck.

The alligator clamped its jaws around Woodward’s arm as LeBlanc jumped into the water in a desperate attempt to save him. Even as he was being attacked, Woodward reportedly told her to get back to safety.

LeBlanc climbed out and called 911.

She then watched in horror as Woodward floated face-down near the pier before the alligator grabbed him again and dragged him beneath the surface.

His body was recovered roughly two hours later. His left arm was missing below the elbow.

The animal was later estimated to be about 11 feet long.

Woodward’s gruesome death quickly became a national story, with television stations and major news outlets publishing photographs taken from his Facebook page.

But the online reaction devastated his family.

Comment sections were flooded with jokes mocking Woodward’s final words and his decision to enter the water despite the warnings.

His identical twin brother, Brian, later said he was furious over the way his brother was portrayed.

Brian avoided news coverage in the days after the attack, refused interview requests and turned away reporters who arrived at his home.

Several days later, local resident Kent Robnett took matters into his own hands.

Robnett had reportedly seen the same enormous alligator in the bayou weeks earlier and feared it could attack his own children, who had swum in the area.

He tracked down and killed the reptile, identifying it by distinctive scars on its face.

Wildlife officials and a licensed hunter later examined the alligator’s stomach and discovered human remains, confirming it was the animal that killed Woodward.

Robnett received only a written warning for killing the gator.

The tragedy reportedly haunted Burkart’s Marina for years.

The business permanently closed in 2016, shortly before its longtime owner died. The owner was said to have carried deep guilt over the attack, despite having posted warning signs before Woodward entered the water.

Woodward’s mother, Kelley Creamer-Shibles, later admitted she had always feared her son might die young — but never imagined it would happen in such a shocking way.

“I always thought it was going to be some stupid car accident, not an alligator attack,” she said.

Woodward’s death remains one of the most infamous alligator attacks in Texas history — remembered not only for its brutality, but for the haunting final words he spoke just seconds before the animal struck.