SC 2-year-old drowns in retention pond as officers struggle to get through locked gate
Police said a South Carolina toddler drowned in a retention pond after dispatchers couldn’t get through the locked gate of the child’s apartment complex, according to WYFF.
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Police were called to Hemingway Circle in Summerville on July 8 about reports of a 2-year-old child face-down in a retention pond.
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Officers said the gate code that dispatchers gave them did not work.
Officers started canvassing the area to try to find another way in, according to WYFF. They then jumped over the community gate and ran toward the pond.
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“As I jumped over the gate, I could see a small body floating in the water towards the opposite end of the pond. I also saw residents standing on their back patios looking at the child in the water not making any effort to get him out of the water,” an officer wrote in the police report.
The officer was able to pull the child from the pond and start CPR, but the 2-year-old, identified as Alijah Brown, died at the hospital.
On Tuesday, there was a makeshift memorial for the child beside the pond.
It’s unclear how the child got away from adults or if anyone is facing any charges.
