STOUGHTON, Mass. — A 20-year-old man has passed away after going underwater while kayaking and not immediately resurfacing at Ames Pond in Stoughton on Thursday afternoon.
[ Kayaker hospitalized following search efforts in Stoughton pond ]
The Stoughton Fire Department was called to the pond just after 2:30 p.m. after several teens reported that their friend had disappeared beneath the water.
According to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office, the incident drew a significant emergency response, including assistance from the Massachusetts State Police and Plymouth County dive teams.
The man was eventually pulled from the water an hour and a half later and taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Gaethan Lucien, who lives by Ames Pond, said he was surprised by the scale of the operation.
“I saw a bunch of emergency response vehicles coming down the road and all of a sudden I came across here and saw this commotion,” Lucien said.
Lucien, who grew up in the area, said he had never witnessed a response of this magnitude at the pond.
“It’s crazy because this has never really happened before,” he said.
Chief Michael Carroll noted that Ames Pond is currently closed to swimmers and that lifeguards are not yet on duty for the summer season.
“This is the kind of call that catches you off guard,” Carroll said. “The beach isn’t even open. It’s locked up. We kind of have a mindset—we know when the lifeguards are on duty, off duty, they call us.”
Because water rescue calls are uncommon in Stoughton, multiple agencies worked together to coordinate the search effort.
“The unified command working with the police and allocating resources and getting information—it’s really impressive when you sit back and are able to dissect it,” Carroll said.
“The dive teams, they got the rafts in the water, and I’m just like, ‘Wow, they’re taking a while,’” Lucien said.
After the rescue operation concluded, officers returned to remove a canoe from the scene.
The incident remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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