A place to talk about and post pictures of cats
In my experience, strays usually act like that when they’ve got a litter stowed somewhere nearby. We got our most recent rescue from a similar situation; an unusually aggressive cat started hassling folks in the area. Once we got her and the kittens moved into a safer place she started to warm up to us, but it was a long process with a lot of bites.
She is now happily domesticated lol
It probably has a litter nearby.
Animal control is probably the only long term solution.
Outside cats will eat almost anything and like it. Try offering it some wet cat food or some tuna and maybe it will become your friend.
Cats are easily spooked so if being nice doesn't work, I would be surprised if a water gun doesn't make it turn around and run away.
Does the cat do it to other humans? Cats normally avoid conflict as they are both a predator and prey, so its pretty weird behaviour. Is it a young cat? Maybe get in touch with your local tnr group and see if they are aware of this cat. Perhaps there some medical condition that is causing the cat to do this.
Maybe bring an umbrella along. You can keep it back and possibly scare it off without hurting it or yourselves. Flap it full out and holler, keep yourself shielded if it tries to actually attack again. Possibly a squirt gun or bottle of water you can splash out. Most cats do Not like getting wet. I've hissed and stomped towards mean neighborhood cats to stay away from me and our doggo, that's not for everyone though, and yours may be tougher. Do not lock eyes and stare, that's an invite to fight.
Set up a trap, catch it, and bring it up a local shelter. If it has an owner, they'll learn a lesson about not letting their cat roam the neighborhood, and if it doesn't, it'll find a nice home.