Friends sobbed and comforted each other as they recounted what had started out as a great day at the lake.
Some of the group were swimming while others were preparing a barbecue when the man disappeared under the water.
“We were in the water, swimming, and he went deeper and deeper in the water,” said Mayra Gonzales, a friend. They had been swimming for about 25 minutes, she said.
Ms. Gonzales said he started splashing around as she approached him.
“He said he could swim. He started pulling at me. I thought he was playing around. He turned red. Then he went under the water.”
Ms. Gonzales swam to the beach to get help.
He was under the water for about five minutes before he resurfaced, Gonzales said.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” said Janice Anston, who was at the park with family members when the accident happened. “I heard yelling and the girl was pointing to the water, but I couldn’t see anything or understand what was happening.
“It all happened so quickly, then there were people running into the water. I still couldn’t see where they were going, it didn’t make sense,” she said.
“The next thing I knew there was a man being dragged in and a helicopter landing, police were everywhere and the fire engine was there. There was a large group that gathered in front of me,” Anston said. “I heard people screaming - it just didn’t make sense. I hope the man is all right. It all happened so quickly. They were giving him CPR before I even realized he had been under the water.”
Rescuers performed CPR for at least 20 minutes before he was moved off the beach and transported to Scott & White Memorial Hospital.
Temple Fire and Rescue got the call at 6:25 p.m. and responded with Temple police officers, Bell County Sheriff’s Department deputies and Scott & White paramedics. Staff from Temple Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was also on the scene.
Investigator James Lewing from Bell County Sheriff’s Office interviewed witnesses.
“They got a pulse,” Lewing said as the man was transported to Scott & White.
Marcos Garcia, 17, of Belton, a friend of the victim, was at home with his parents when he received a phone call from his friends.
“They were panicking,” Garcia said. “They said the ambulance wasn’t there.” he said. His parents drove him to the lake to join his friends.
Garcia said the man lived with his sister in Belton and worked at a local Mexican restaurant.
“His parents still live in Mexico,” he said.
