An 8-year-old girl, her mother and another adult relative died in apparent drownings in a pool at a New Jersey home Monday afternoon, officials said.
East Brunswick police were called to the home around 4:15 p.m. for a possible fall victim, but officers arrived and realized it was an apparent drowning, police Lt. Frank Sutter told reporters, according to video from local media outlets.
A neighbor heard screaming, which investigators believe was the mother was yelling for help from inside the pool, Sutter said. CPR was performed, but the three people were pronounced deceased in the back yard, he said.
Police identified the dead as an 8-year-old girl, her 32-year-old mother and a 62-year-old male family member, NBC New York reported.
“This is a devastating day for our entire community. It is too early to determine exactly what happened,” Police Chief Frank Losacco said in a statement.
Losacco said the police department is working with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and would release more information as it is available.
The county prosecutor’s office said that the three people lived at the home. It said the cause of death would be determined by the county medical examiner’s office.
East Brunswick is a township of around 47,000 southwest of New York City.
