7-foot crocodile caught swimming in Ohio creek children were playing in

An Ohio church group that consisted of mostly children came across a scary sight while playing in a creek on Wednesday, according to CNN.

The group, made up of mainly 16 first through sixth graders, was playing in Bantas Fork Creek in West Alexandria, when one of the group's adult leaders — some of whom were in the water and on a small bridge — spotted a 7-foot-long, 171-pound crocodile swimming nearby, said Rick Turnbull, who teaches the children.

The chaperone "saw something in the water, a shadowy object moving, and he yelled down to the person on that side of the bridge and shouted 'Get the kids out of the water,'" Turnbull said.

By the time the children were evacuated, the crocodile was reportedly 20 feet away from the group.

"Give Jesus all the glory for protecting these kids," said Rich Denius, who was purportedly in the water with one of his sons and helped get the children to safety.

The reptile eventually swam beneath the bridge the group stood on, Turnbull said. A wildlife officer later shot the animal.

"It was wild that we'd had a lesson about predators lurking in the shadows," said Turnbull.

According to Dr. Tony Forshey, the state's veterinarian, the crocodile was most likely a pet that was left in the creek after it got too big.

"This was the first sighting, so he probably hadn't been in there very long," he said.

For his part, Turnbull said he's just thankful that the children made it out of the creek before anything serious happened.

"It's a lesson that these kids will never forget," he said.