PLANTATION, Fla. – Police said a 4-year-old boy drowned Sunday afternoon while in the care of his grandmother.
"This is the first child drowning in Plantation in 15 years," Plantation Fire Department Battalion Chief Joel Gordon told Local 10 News.
Rescue officials got the call for help at about 3:40 p.m. Plantation police Detective Philip Toman said the boy's grandmother was taking care of two children when she fell asleep.
"There is a sliding glass door that apparently was closed at the time," Toman said. "Somehow the child managed to get outside and was in the swimming pool."
When the boy's father returned home from work, he found the boy at the bottom of the pool. The father pulled the boy out and performed CPR before help arrived.
"He was soaking wet where he had jumped in the pool and he was, you know, going back and forth between the house and the ambulance and he was just absolutely devastated," a neighbor, who identified herself only as Cynthia, told Local 10. "You could tell he was in shock."
She said she saw the child being treated by rescue workers.
"Looking at him, I knew he was gone," Cynthia said. "He had a bluish tint to his body and he just kind of -- it was very sad. It was very sad to witness."
The boy was taken to Plantation General Hospital.
"They worked on him for about half an hour but could not revive him, and he was pronounced dead," Gordon said.
Police said there was no child safety gate surrounding the pool.
"I don't know. I mean, I don't want to point the finger at anybody, but how could you fall asleep with a little boy like that in the house? Just unacceptable," Cynthia said.
The drowning remains under investigation.
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