2 Boys Die After Being Pulled From Pond In Palatine: Police

PALATINE, IL — Two young boys, ages 4 and 6, have died after they were pulled from a pond in Palatine on Wednesday, officials said.

Police responded to a report of a group of children who had fallen into a pond in the 800 block of West Panorama Drive around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said in a news release.

Firefighters pulled two boys from the pond, and they were taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

On Thursday, police said the 4-year-old, who had been transferred to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, was pronounced dead around 11:43 p.m. Wednesday. The 6-year-old boy, who had been transferred to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, died just before 4 p.m. Thursday.

Police said they continue to investigate the incident.

The parents of the two boys, identified as brothers Romalice and Ro'Siah Brooks, spoke to ABC Chicago, saying the boys fell into the icy pond while visiting their grandmother's home. Their mother told the station she was inside the house when she heard her sons screaming for her.

She said she ran out onto the ice and also fell through, unable to reach her children.

"I miss my boys. They fought. They fought so hard," she told the station.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established for the family.

The two boys weren't the only children pulled from retention ponds Wednesday in the Chicago suburbs. In Aurora, a boy and a woman were rescued by officers after falling into a pond and survived. The boy and two officers suffered minor injuries in that incident.

Police said the 9-year-old had gone out onto the ice to retrieve his football.