2-year-old rescued from pond in Merrillville

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (WLS) -- A 2-year-old boy was pulled from a pond Tuesday afternoon near an apartment complex in Merrillville, Ind., police said.

The incident happened at about 3 p.m. at the Hickory Ridge Lake Apartments in the 6600-block of Hayes Street.

The mother told police she left her son alone for just a moment on the ground-floor patio, which was just steps away from the water.

She lost sight of him and then found the toddler in the pond.

"I just heard her saying, "Help, help, help!" And then I looked outside, and she's right up under me, and I saw her in the water with the baby. So I knew just to call 911," said neighbor Bianca Beans.

Some of those neighbors performed CPR on the toddler.

When officers arrived, they continued CPR until the fire department had arrived, said Merrillville Police Det. Cmdr. Jeff Rice.

The boy, neighbors said, may have been in the water a few minutes and was initially unresponsive.

"Anything with kids is emotional, to see something like that happen. And then his mom was very emotional," said neighbor Marshae Taylor.

However, the boy was conscious and breathing as he was rushed to Methodist Hospital.

"I heard the baby cry out when I arrived at the hospital, so that's a good sign," Rice said.

But after that, the child was put on instruments to help him continue to breathe.

As a standard procedure, police said they will contact the Indiana Department of Children and Family Services.

But investigators said they are calling this an unfortunate accident, saying it does not appear the mother was negligent.