7 Year Old Boy Drowns

A 7-year-old child has died after being pulled from a retention pond Wednesday evening in Charlotte's Steele Creek area, according to the Charlotte Fire Department.

Emergency crews were called around 6:30 p.m. to a pond located behind a neighborhood on Lady Bell Drive after reports that a young child had entered the water. Authorities said surveillance footage indicated the child had gone into the pond, and another child nearby alerted an adult, prompting a call for help.

Upon arrival, firefighters immediately entered the water and began searching for the child. Witnesses told responders they saw the child enter the pond and attempt to swim back to shore but were unable to make it.

Additional Charlotte Fire Rescue personnel and dive teams arrived to assist with the search. Just before 7 p.m., crews located the child and pulled him from the water.

Firefighters began emergency medical treatment at the scene and continued providing care during transport to a local hospital. Despite those efforts, the child later died at a local hospital.

The tragedy comes amid several other recent drowning incidents involving 7-year-olds. In April, 7-year-old Abel Friday-Williams died after entering a pond near Hickory while reportedly attempting to save a friend. Earlier this year, 7-year-old twin brothers Benjamin and Sebastian Pufall died after falling through an icy pond in Onslow County. Another 7-year-old boy drowned at a Rhode Island beach earlier this month.

The latest incident serves as another heartbreaking reminder of the importance of water safety and close supervision around ponds, pools and other bodies of water. The Charlotte Fire Department and other agencies continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the drowning.