911 CALLS RELEASED IN DEATH AT POND
As another teen clings to life, a crisis team lends support at Legend High School.
Bouquets of flowers surround an icy pond the day after three teen boys fell through the ice, leaving one dead and one in critical condition. The high temperature Thursday in Parkerwas 42.
parker » Panic struck when a teen girl noticed three of her schoolmates treading freezing water after crashing through an icy pond behind her Parker backyard.
Rushing back to survey the scene after calling for help, she realized that she could spot only one boy struggling to stay afloat and a coat bobbing next to him.
The other two boys were nowhere to be seen.
Afrantic phone call between the girl and 911 dispatchers that provided details of the accident was released Friday. One teen boy died Thursday and another is in critical condition.
Bouquets of flowers surrounding the retention pond and frenzied tracks leading up to the water remained the day after the accident.
The teen girl told dispatchers that her barking dog prompted her to look outside, where she saw the scene unfold. At the time of the call, she could see only one boy barely keeping his head above water, but she saw the three teens in the pond moments earlier.
“I see him trying to get out,” she said. “I see stuff floating, and I can only see one guy. I see a coat floating. One of them is actually in my class.”
When she mentioned getting a broom and heading outside, the dispatcher cautioned her to stay off the ice.
Parker reached a high of 42 degrees on the day of the accident, with temperatures dropping as the evening went on, according to the National Weather Service.
The principal of Legend High School on Friday identified the three sophomores pulled from the neighborhood pond on Thursday evening.
Patric Lantz, a sophomore, was pronounced dead after being in the pond formore than 35 minutes.
Principal Jason Jacob has called Lantz’s family along with the loved ones of the other two teens, offering his support and condolences on behalf of the school.
“There has been lots of tears between us on the phone,” Jacob said. “Every kid in this building is one ofmy own.”
Max Gantnier was last listed in critical condition after being flown to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. The third teen, Cole Robinson, was treated and released Thursday night.
“It’s been a tough day for our Legend family,” Jacob said. “When something happens to ( one of our students), it happens to me.”
A crisis team was at the high school starting at 8 a. m. for anyone who needed support. Students, staff and parents had been streaming in and out of the school most of the day seeking help and comfort, Jacob said.
“At Legend, we are a family,” Jacob said. “Strong families find ways to get through tough times.”
Lantz was involved in the high school’ s DEC A program, a club focusing on business and entrepreneurship, and the school’ s engineering program.
He enjoyed the strong emphasis on technology that Legend High School offered, Jacob said.
Peyton Mogavero, 15, placed an orange bouquet beside the retention pond that now has gaping holes in its icy surface.
Mogavero, who was classmates with the teens, said shewas heartbroken by the news.
“They’re all so sweet,” Mogavero said. “They always think of everyone else. Every day, they would always make me laugh.”
Charlene Allen lives a few houses down from the pond that sits at the end of a cul- de- sac. She said she saw the three boys heading down to the ice and sliding around on it.
“It seemed like they were playing,” Allen said. “I thought it was OK, and I quit paying attention. If only I had known.”
Allen, who has lived in that house for 16 years, said she has never seen other people out on the ice.
Less than 24 hours after the Parker teens’ accident, four more Coloradans found themselves trapped in the middle of an icy Englewood lake.
Passers- by in Centennial Park called police after seeing three teens and one adult out on an icy body of water in the middle of the park.
The Denver Fire Department was able to talk to the stranded people and get them onto a small island in the middle of the water, where the underwater rescue team was dispatched to retrieve them.
“One of the messages we’re really trying to get out there is just encouraging people to stay off the ice,” said Denver fire spokeswoman Melissa Taylor. “It’s just not safe. Kids never think it’s going to happen to them. It’s really quite senseless.”
Neighbor Sarah Viarrial lives steps away from the Parker pond. Minutes before the accident, Viarrial said she had just left to take her daughter to gymnastics class.
“It just breaks my heart,” she said. “If I had been here, maybe I could have done something.”