Teen dies after being found unresponsive in pool at NW Indiana high school

GARY, Ind. - A boy died Thursday morning hours after he was found unresponsive in a pool at a high school in northwest Indiana.

In the evening, officers responded to Calumet High School, 3900 Calhoun Street in unincorporated Gary, for a report of a possible drowning, the Lake County sheriff’s office said in a statement.

They found 14-year-old Curtis Walton Jr. unresponsive in the pool, the sheriff’s office said. He was rushed to Community Hospital in Munster for treatment.

He was later airlifted to the University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead early Thursday.

According to witnesses, the pool was opened to players after football practice, the sheriff’s office said. At some point, Walton was discovered at the bottom of the pool.

Superintendent Sharon Shirley said the community is taking the news hard.

"Today, we have all been traumatized. Losing a student is at the top of my list of the worst things to possibly happen," Shirley said.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Department is investigating.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.