4-year-old from Bridgewater, NJ drowns in local lake, police say

BRIDGEWATER — A 4-year-old's death in Sunset Lake is considered an accidental drowning.

Bridgewater police received a 9-1-1 call late Friday evening about a child drowning in the lake. Officers found bystanders administering CPR on the child and immediately took over life-saving measures, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office said.

A parent of the child was on the scene in the area of North Shore Drive, the prosecutor's office told New Jersey 101.5.

The child, identified as a 4-year-old male resident of Bridgewater, was pronounced deceased at a nearby hospital.

Detectives from the prosecutor's office and police department conducted an initial investigation and are preliminarily calling the incident an accidental drowning. Preliminary findings from the medical examiner's office also suggest the child's death was an accident by drowning.

A final autopsy report is pending.

Contact reporter Dino Flammia at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com.

BEEP BEEP BEEP: These are the 13 types of Wireless Emergency Alerts auto-pushed to your phone

The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system allows government officials to immediately and automatically push messages to all cell phones and mobile devices within a specific geographical area. There are a total of 13 types of messages that can currently be sent as a Wireless Emergency Alert. Nine of them are weather-related warnings, including one that is brand new as of August 2021.

NJ arrests 31 accused child predators in "Operation 24/7"

A roundup of 31 men have been accused of sexually exploiting children online, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced on July 14 while detailing "Operation 24/7."

The suspects “possessed and or distributed videos and images of child sexual abuse, including in many cases videos of young children being raped by adults,” Grewal said.

Chat apps and gaming platforms remain favorite hunting grounds for child predators and even as the pandemic winds down, many children have continued to spend more time online.

State Police received 39% more tips in just the first 6 months of 2021 than they received in the entire year in 2019. The following are suspects charged in "Operation 24/7."

Filed Under: Bridgewater, Somerset County

Categories: New Jersey News