Tragic twist in boy’s park death as police await autopsy results
Police will await the results of an autopsy of a young boy before considering whether charges are laid over a fight in a park.
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POLICE will await the results of an autopsy of a boy before considering whether charges will be laid over a fight in a park filled with children that turned to tragedy.
The 12-year-old and his friends allegedly got into a fight with another group of children who arrived at Shang Park in Mooroobool on Thursday evening before he fell to the ground on the basketball court unconscious and could not be revived.
He died in Cairns Hospital despite desperate efforts by bystanders and paramedics to save him.
Police are understood to be probing the impact chroming had on the incident and the boy’s death following multiple reports from witnesses that his group had been inhaling intoxicating substances.
Chroming trends have been spiralling among youths around the city with supermarkets recently forced to remove some deodorant brands from shelves.
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Far North police Detective Acting Inspector Jason Smith conceded yesterday illicit substance abuse was “a possibility”.
“But how much (of a role) it played in this event is yet to be revealed,” he said.
The park, which is surrounded by houses, is regularly filled with 30 or more children every afternoon, many of whom witnessed the tragedy.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said her seven-year-old daughter saw the whole thing, was traumatised and would probably need counselling.
“She came running back and said ‘two boys were fighting and one’s lying on the ground, he’s not waking up’,” she said. “She saw the fight break out.”
Police say they have spoken to all the youths involved in the fight. It is understood the boy who was allegedly fighting with the child who died was also 12 and the pair knew each other.
The park has CCTV cameras installed and Det Acting Insp Smith said they had captured what occurred before and after, but not the actual event.
He begged anyone with information, including those who may have been filming on a mobile phone, to come forward.
“Parents, if your child saw this, let us know what they saw so we can piece everything together and give the parents some closure,” he said.
“We’re keeping an open mind at this stage; there are a number of different possibilities and we’re just doing our best to piece together everything and reveal the truth as to how someone died.”
He also called for calm in the community.
“I hope everyone comes together in this time of grief and supports each other,” he said.
“It’s a very sad occasion and (we hope) the community is coming together and understanding and waiting for police to identify the truth of what happened before then respond.
“I call on anyone here just to be reasonable and wait until we can them information into how this fellow died.”
Originally published as Tragic twist in boy’s park death as police await autopsy results
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