(CNN) It was a totally normal Tuesday in Chicago's Humboldt Park until someone spotted an alligator lurking in the park's lagoon.

What started as a few eyebrow-raising photos turned into an intensive search as the Chicago Police Department and the city's animal control raced to find the animal. Sure enough, gator business was afoot.

A viewer named Rencie Horst-Ruiz sent us these photos of an apparent alligator in Humboldt Park this AM #Chicago pic.twitter.com/uW866EYX6R — Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) July 9, 2019

The police "independently confirmed the alligator is in the lagoon," Chicago PD spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said via Twitter. "State reptile specialists say it is between 4 and 5 feet long." Gugliemi said the reptile will be humanely trapped and relocated to a zoo for veterinary evaluation.

It's not every day one of the most popular parks in one of the biggest cities in the country plays host to an alligator -- at least, nowhere north of Miami. According to CNN affiliate WBBM , people lined up along the bridges of the Humboldt lagoon to catch a glimpse of the interloper.

"An unusual news day," is how the Chicago PD put it on social media.

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