FRIDLEY, Minn. — A Minnesota man drowned Sunday while trying to save his two children who were struggling to return to shore, authorities said.
Leland Michael Morris, 26, of Fridley, died while attempting to help his 2- and 4-year-old daughters at Moore Lake in Fridley, WCCO reported.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Morris died at a local hospital.
Police said it looked like the father had gone into the water after two children were seen struggling on floatation devices. He was taken to the hospital, and his condition is unknown. #sunrisers. https://t.co/Z695C25YRM
— KARE 11 (@kare11) June 7, 2021
“I know that there’s nothing different my brother would have done that day. If he could have done it again, he would’ve done it again to make sure that his babies were OK,” Morris’ sister, Colette Moorman, told KSTP. “I feel like I lost a chunk of me. But I know my brother did not die in vain.”
According to the sheriff’s office, Morris attempted to swim out to assist the children, who were on floatation devices, but went underwater and did not resurface.
“The children’s mother and other bystanders were able to bring the children back to shore without any injuries,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Father dies after trying to rescue kids in Fridley lake
— KSTP (@KSTP) June 8, 2021
https://t.co/FJHIPiR4il
Police and fire rescue personnel were unable to find Morris, the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis reported. A dive team responded to the scene, found him and pulled him out of the water, the sheriff’s office said. Morris was unresponsive when he was taken to an area hospital.
Diamond Beavers said she was on an inflatable raft when the 4-year-old girl began struggling.
“It looked to me like she was going to go under, and I started to get off, and (Morris) said, ‘I got it, I am going to go get her,’” Beavers told WCCO.
Beavers said that Morris then began to stuggle.
“Leland was screaming, ‘Help, help, call 911,’” Beavers told the television station.
Moorman told KARE that it has been a devastating month for her family. She was one of her other brothers was murdered last month in Arkansas.
“We just laid one brother to rest and 30 days later, my second baby brother loses his life,” Moorman told the television station. “I just don’t understand.”
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