Teens die after falling into icy lake

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two teenage boys rescued from the bottom of a Gwinnett County neighborhood lake died Saturday evening. Another boy, who was able to climb out of the icy water, is in stable condition.

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Phil Skinner, AJC Gwinnett Fire PIO Tommy Rutledge talks from the scene where three males ages 13-15 fell in to the ice on a pond at the Daniel Park subdivision near Dacula.

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Phil Skinner, AJC Gwinnett firefighters in a swift water rescue boat using a 10-foot pole to pull the teens from the water at 3:23 p.m.

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The boys, between the ages of 13 and 15, are believed to have been playing near the middle of the lake when the thin sheet of ice cracked, causing all three to fall in the water, said Capt. Tommy Rutledge with the Gwinnett County fire department.

A neighbor saw the boys fall in and called 9-1-1, Rutledge said. The incident occurred in the 2800 block of Daniel Park Run in the Daniel Park subdivision in Dacula, north of the Mall of Georgia.

Rescue workers were dispatched at 2:29 p.m. One boy was out of the water and attempting to locate the other two when crews arrived, Rutledge said.

Firefighters were able to coax the teen to the lake's banks and began treating him for hypothermia and shock. That boy, Rutledge said, was conscious and able to walk on his own.

The lake, surrounded by houses, sits beside a covered pavilion, basketball courts and a grassy area, where neighbors said the boys likely accessed the lake.

Rescue workers backed their trucks into the grass to rescue the boys.

Firefighters used a boat to move across the lake, through broken ice, to rescue the other two boys. Using ten-foot poles, the firefighters were able to locate the boys at the bottom of the lake, estimated at 8 to 10 feet deep.

The departments Swiftwater Rescue team used the pike poles, which have a hook on the end, to pull the boys up by their clothing, Rutledge said. Divers from other jurisdictions were originally called to help, but were not needed, he said.

The second boy was pulled from the lake at 3:23 p.m., and rescue workers began CPR on both boys, who were unresponsive and unconscious.

"They were in there for almost an hour," Rutledge said.

All three of the boys were transported to Gwinnett Medical Center, and all showed signs of hypothermia, Rutledge said.

Two of the boys were pronounced dead a few hours later, according to Andrea Wehrmann, hospital spokesperson.

Rescue workers had hoped the cold temperature of the water, and their young age, would help them survive the incident.

"This is a very tragic situation," Rutledge said. "Our thoughts and prayers are now with the family and friends."

Officials have not released the boys' names. A neighbor told the AJC the survivor is a freshman at Mill Creek High School.

Classmates on the social networking web site Facebook identified the boys as Jacob Bullock and Marvens Mathurin, both students at Osborne Middle School in Hoschton.

The teens' deaths come after nearly 30 reports during the past 2 days of children falling while playing on frozen water in Gwinnett County, Rutledge said. Although frozen ponds and lakes may look safe to walk across, they often are not strong enough to support a person's weight.

"We cannot stress enough," Rutledge said. "We know it is tempting, but it is important that people stay off the ice."

- Mashaun D. Simon contributed to this report