Officer Dies Attempting to Save 14-Year-Old from Drowning

A Worcester, Massachusetts, police officer died Friday while attempting to save a 14-year-old boy from drowning in a city pond.

NBC News reports that officers arrived at the pond just after 1:30 p.m. and were able to rescue two of three would-be drowning victims.

An hour into the rescue effort they realized their fellow officer, Manny Familia, was missing. His body was soon found by divers, along with the body of the 14-year-old whom he was trying to save.

Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty commented, “This is the type of person that Manny was, someone who’d lay down his life for someone else’s child.”

Right now, #Worcester police officers are gathering at UMass Memorial to pay their respects to fellow Officer Manny Familia who died trying to save a boy who drowned in a pond.

Officer Familia will be escorted to the medical examiner's office in #Westfield at 8:30 AM @wbz pic.twitter.com/jRmGrHNARu

— Anna Meiler (@AnnaMeiler) June 5, 2021

CBS Boston notes that Familia “was a five-year veteran of department.”

Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent said, “The Worcester Police Department has lost a brother, friend and a partner. The City of Worcester has lost a hero.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.