By Sam Stanton and Ben Schenkel
A 7-year-old Sacramento area boy died at 6:26 p.m. Friday, the apparent victim of a drowning at a pool party, the Sacramento County Coroner's Office reported Saturday.
A coroner's report identifies the boy as Christopher Walters, and fire officials said the boy was the son of a Sacramento Fire Department firefighter who was on duty elsewhere at the time of the incident.
According to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, emergency responders treated Walters after he was pulled out of a swimming pool at a home in the 15000 block of Wadkins Court in Rancho Murieta.
Sac Metro Battlion Chief Pat Ellis said the boy could not swim and had been wearing water wings, but took them off to emulate some of the older children who were swimming.
Ellis emphasized that water wings are not a substitute for knowing how to swim and that this is the second drowning in a week at a backyard pool party.
Adults on the scene had received CPR instructions over the phone, said Dale Turner, Sac Metro Fire spokesman. He said the boy showed signs of life before a Calstar helicopter airlifted him to UC Davis Medical Center.
The fact that the boy's father is a firefighter was deeply troubling for his colleagues, Ellis said.
"It's pretty much sent shock waves across our agency and the city's agency."
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