‘They should have shut it down.’ Three boys drown in one weekend in Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan claimed three lives over the weekend — boys, all under the age of 15.
Two of the boys — Joshua Torres, 10, and Malik Freeman, 14 — drowned Saturday less than an hour apart in the same area at Indiana Dunes State Park, according to CLTV in Chicago.
Joshua, from Chicago, was found in the water shortly before 5 p.m. and died later at Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the TV station.
Malik’s parents, Micah and Darren Freeman of Aurora, say they didn’t know there had been a drowning on the beach when their son ran into trouble in the same water.
“Once the 10-year-old drowned, they should have shut it down,” Micah Freeman told WGN in Chicago. “They shoulda just told everybody to get out of the water, we’re closed for the day, we just had a death. They didn’t make anybody aware of what just happened to that 10-year-old “
Swimming conditions were a concern that day. According to CBS Chicago, the park had restricted swimmers to waist-deep water on Saturday. It’s unclear how deep the water was where the boys drowned.
On Monday, after the deadly weekend of swimming, the National Weather Service issued a beach hazard for the Chicago area, warning of what the Chicago Tribune called “life-threatening” conditions for swimming and boating expected along the lake over the next few days.
The weather service warned of dangerous rip currents and waves as high as 6 feet, according to ABC 7 in Chicago.
With local children still on vacation, Labor Day looming, and lifeguards ending their season on Sept. 3, officials voiced concerns to the Tribune that conditions are ripe for possibly more drownings.
Five children have drowned in Lake Michigan in the Chicago area this year, one more than last year, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, the Tribune reported.
On Saturday, when the two boys drowned, waves were 4 feet high and the currents were strong on Indiana beaches, according to WGN. “It’s kind of a perfect recipe: warm, wind waves on a weekend to have an incident,” Dave Benjamin of the Great Lakes project told WGN.
Micah Freeman told ABC 7 her son was a good swimmer who knew about rip currents. She said she’d been keeping a close eye on her children in the water when she noticed them drifting.
”I started jogging a little bit to tell Malik to come closer, then I noticed his hand go up, then I started screaming ‘cause I could tell he was in trouble,” she told ABC.
She said her husband, two lifeguards and other people on the beach went in the water after him but struggled to find him in the waves. By the time they pulled him out he couldn’t be revived.
Malik, just days away from his 15th birthday, was going to be a sophomore in high school.
He died at the same hospital Joshua Torres had died at earlier.
GoFundMe campaigns have been started to help pay for funeral expenses for Malik and Joshua.
”They should have said something, a 10-year-old was just pulled out of the water lifeless. They should have said this, I would have taken my kids and went home,” Micah Freeman told ABC 7.
On Friday evening, a 14-year-old boy also drowned in Lake Michigan while he was trying to swim across a channel between Waukegan Harbor and Municipal Beach, the Tribune reported.
He was one of four young men trying to make the swim, fire officials told the newspaper. But the 14-year-old disappeared under the water and was no longer visible by the time rescue crews arrived.
Fire Marshal Steve Lenzi told the Tribune that divers found the boy after about 30 minutes of searching. On Sunday, the Lake County coroner’s office confirmed to ABC 7 that the boy died.
On Sunday, the day after the boys drowned at the state park, the beaches were full and conservation officers told WGN the swimming conditions were better than the day before.
It was a hurtful scenario for Malik’s father to consider.
“It shouldn’t be business as usual if someone loses their life,” he told WGN through tears. “Malik lost his life on Saturday and the beach was open on Sunday.”