MINNEAPOLIS – What started as a Father’s Day weekend trip to a Minnesota lake ended in tragedy after a 3-year-old boy fell in and his father died saving his son’s life, according to the Becker County Sheriff’s Office.
Christopher Schultz, 31, was with his son at Dead Shot Bay when the toddler fell from a bridge into the water around 8:22 p.m. Saturday.
“The little boy was leaning over the railing when he saw a fish and went over,” Sheriff Todd Glander told Inside Edition. “The dad went in after him.”
Schultz jumped in and quickly began to struggle, but managed to lift his son out of the water long enough for a bystanders to help get the child to shore, Glander said.
Schultz never made it back to the surface, authorities told WCCO. Divers found his body about 40 minutes later; he was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
The boy was reportedly treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.
A GoFundMe has been created to raise money to pay for medical and funeral expenses.
