NORT FORT MYERS, Fla. — A teenager has died after swimming in a retention pond in a north Fort Myers neighborhood.
Multiple first responder teams, including divers, were called to the newly constructed retention pond on Warner Circle and McNeil Road around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon for a possible drowning.
After about 30 minutes of searching, crews were able to pull the teen from the water and transport him to the hospital. However Monday The Lee County Sheriff's Office confirmed with FOX 4's Briana Brownlee the teen died.
"I know everyone talks about drowning, but at 15 you don’t suspect that to happen," said a mother whose son was a close friend of the victim.
She described the late teen as a protector for the other teens and children in the neighborhood.
“He was just a really good kid, he was really respectful, yes ma’am, no ma’am," the mother said.
Many people in the neighborhood are heartbroken
over what happened to the teen. Multiple neighbors told FOX 4 the newly constructed retention pond has been a huge problem to the point multiple complaints from the neighborhood were filed prior to the situation.
Now with a teen losing his life, neighbors said it's time to take action.
"They need to put a fence around that joker now,” said Jerome James, a neighbor. "That's real dangerous."
“I don’t know understand why they haven’t fenced it," said another neighbor.
It's not clear who is in charge of the retention pond, but neighbors told FOX 4 that since it's been built it's been a huge playground for the neighborhood children.
“There are always kids, even smaller kids, I would say five years old and up playing around that area, they have their dirt bikes," one neighbor said.
LCSO is currently investigating the death but says suspicious behavior isn't suspected.
