A 6-year-old woman with nonverbal autism has died after emergency responders discovered her in an icy pond in Norton, in keeping with authorities.
“This is not the day we were looking for,” Police Chief Brian Clark instructed reporters Friday night. “We offer our thoughts and prayers to the family and certainly offer our condolences. It’s certainly a sad day in Norton.”
A guardian known as Clark’s division to report their daughter was lacking at about 2:28 p.m., prompting an in depth search within the woods and round Barrowsville Pond and the Wading River.
Roughly an hour after the decision, firefighters dove into the pond carrying Mustang Survival fits – gear that gives floatation and hypothermia safety within the occasion of water immersion, Deputy Fireplace Chief Jason Robbins mentioned.
The divers had been within the water for roughly 12 minutes once they discovered the woman within the pond on the Barrowsville aspect of Energy Avenue.
Emergency responders shortly carried out CPR on the woman earlier than dashing her to Sturdy Memorial Hospital the place medical personnel pronounced her useless later Friday afternoon, Clark mentioned.
The police chief added that each out there officer responded to the scene earlier than the division “quickly” known as within the hearth division to help. The Massachusetts State Police and a “number of communities” offered mutual assist.
“You push the button as soon as you can,” Clark mentioned on requesting assist. “We wanted as many resources there as possible. … It’s a time when everybody’s heart is pumping: Where can we look? What can we do?”
The Bristol County District Lawyer’s Workplace and Norton PD continued investigating the incident, which Clark mentioned doesn’t look like prison, Friday night. Peer assist has been deployed to assist the emergency personnel who responded to the scene.
“It’s sad,” Clark mentioned of the loss of life. “She’s a little girl. A lot of police officers and firefighters who responded have children. It’s a big autism community. We are really sad that this happened.”
