JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Bolles School fifth grader died after a rope swing became caught around his neck and strangled him, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Police were called to Bolles Middle School campus on Bartram Road just after 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Ten-year-old Ryan Perry was playing on a rope swing, just feet from where his brother was practicing football, according to JSO.
"It is with deep sadness that we announce a tragic accident has occurred on the Bolles Middle School Bartram Campus on the afternoon of September 5. Ryan Perry, a Whitehurst Campus fifth grade student, suffered a fatal injury while playing on a ropes course intended for team building near the athletic fields," said the head of the Bolles School in an email to Channel 4.
"He was on the ground. His upper torso would have been off the ground. But he was not up high enough," said JSO Sgt. Shawn Coarsey.
Police said the boy's father and sister were also there, but the boy was alone when his neck became caught in the rope swing.
"The dad was watching the practice which is not very far away. You can see where the crime scene is in comparison to the field and the bleachers," said Sgt. Coarsey.
A Bolles faculty member, who is trained in and teaches CPR, as well as a parent, who is a doctor, both immediately administered CPR on Perry until taken by ambulance to Baptist Medical Center.
Police said there will likely be no charge of child neglect.
School officials said they will provide counselors for students and faculty.