Boy, 2, first drowning victim at Chesapeake park in decades

CHESAPEAKE

A toddler who died after falling into the water at Lakeside Park on Sunday may be the first drowning victim at the city-owned site in at least half a century.

Two-year-old Christopher Anderson of Chesapeake apparently wandered off from his family sometime before 6 p.m. Firefighters summoned to the South Norfolk park discovered the child in the water after several minutes and performed CPR. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police continue to investigate, Detective Gus Mojica wrote in an e-mail. "It seems, at this time, that there is no indication that is was anything other than an unfortunate accident."

The toddler lived on Grady Crescent, less than a mile from the Bainbridge Boulevard Park.

Bobby Clifton, former director of Chesapeake's Parks and Recreation Department, said he believes it is the first drowning at the park since at least the late 1950s, when he attended school nearby. Clifton began mowing grass there in 1961.

Lakeside Park draws hundreds of people on warm weekend days and is the pride of the community, he said. The crowd numbers into the thousands during the annual Fourth of July celebration, which began 30 years ago, Clifton said.

"My heart sank" at the news of the toddler's death, he said.

Pilot researcher Maureen Watts contributed to this report.

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com