Local News
Police say no foul play is suspected as investigators work to determine what happened.
A Springfield middle-school student died Wednesday after suffering a medical emergency in a swimming pool during a field trip in Connecticut, officials said.
First responders were called to High Meadow Resort in North Granby around 2:30 p.m. The student, later identified by police as 14-year-old Emari Marshall-Woodard, was transported to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Marshall-Woodard was an eighth-grader in the Springfield Public Schools district and was among a group of Springfield students visiting the venue.
Granby police are investigating the death, though Capt. Kurt LaFlamme said no foul play is suspected.
“We’ll see where it leads, but at this point it appears it’s a drowning,” LaFlamme told local media.
Granby police said in a Facebook post that fellow students witnessed the incident and were “overcome with emotion.”
Officials did not say which Springfield District school Marshall-Woodard attended, though Western Mass News reported that Springfield’s Kiley Middle School was among the schools visiting High Meadow Resort that day.
In a statement, Springfield Public Schools said, “Our hearts are with the student’s family, friends, classmates, school staff, and all those whose lives have been touched by this unimaginable tragedy. Counselors and support staff are being made available to students and staff who may need assistance in the days and weeks ahead.”
High Meadow Resort also addressed the boy’s death, saying, “This afternoon, an eighth-grade boy on a field trip suffered a medical emergency in the pool and was taken by ambulance to the local hospital. Tragically, we learned that he passed away this evening. All of us at High Meadow are deeply saddened, and are praying for his family, friends, and classmates.”
Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.
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