A young boy passed away a few days after he was pulled out of a pool in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, according to law enforcement sources.
Police found 7-year-old Jabriel O'Connor at the bottom, deep end of the pool at the Cobbs Creek Recreation Center located at 50 South 63rd Street around 12:30 p.m on Thursday. He was taken to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
On Friday, police announced that the boy was brain-dead but his parents had not taken him off life support. O'Connor then died at the hospital on Saturday, according to Mayor Michael Nutter.
"It is with the deepest sadness that I am reporting that Jabriel O'Connor passed away yesterday," said Nutter in a statement released on Sunday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Jabriel's parents, family, friends, and all of the young people present at the Cobb's Creek Recreation Center on Thursday as they grieve. The City will continue to provide support services to Jabriel's family, the camp staff, City employees and community members affected by this tragedy."
The pool O'Connor was pulled from is about 5-feet deep. A child must be 45 inches or taller to enter and must be accompanied by an adult, according to pool regulations.
There were four lifeguards on duty during the time of the accident, according to investigators.
“There is one counselor that is with the group then you have lifeguards who oversee the pool. Obviously when you’re making three separate dumps of children with this weather condition, I mean it’s difficult when you have heat as oppressive as we had it today and it’s an unfortunate situation,” said Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker.
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Investigators say O'Connor was with a camp of 25 children who were using the pool. "Families Forward Philadelphia," a camp for homeless children, says the boy was one of their campers.
"We are cooperating fully with the police in their investigation of this incident," said a Families Forward spokesperson. "We are providing expert counseling to all of the children, parents and teachers directly involved in the swim trip, as well as offering counseling to all the other participants in any of our programs. We will continue to bring in experts to work with all the children, their parents, and our staff to be as supportive as possible to the family and to walk with them as they face uncertainty.”
A spokesperson for the camp says O'Connor lived in one of the transitional housing units operated by the organization.
