Sheriff's Office Investigating Drowning Of NAACP President's Son

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the drowning of a 16-year-old on June 4 near the River Creek community. Fitz Thomas, son of Loudoun NAACP President Michelle Thomas, drowned at the confluence of Goose Creek and the Potomac River in Loudoun County.

The Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Department is facing questions as to why it took its crews so long to respond to 911 calls, given that Thomas was in Virginia waters at the time he went underwater and could not be seen by his friends. Loudoun County crews arrived at the scene 35 minutes after the first 911 call.

Loudoun County Sheriff's Office detectives assigned to the case have interviewed nearly two dozen people at the scene, the sheriff's office said Thursday. The detectives interviewed Thomas's friends, who were with him at the time of the drowning, and other witnesses who were in the area at the time.

"Information from the community suggests there may have been additional people who were in the area who have not spoken with law enforcement," the sheriff's office said. "If you were at the scene and have not spoken with a detective, please contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office."

Thomas and his friends were swimming in the area on the evening of June 4. As he crossed the water, Thomas was observed going underwater. Thomas's friends and a passerby eventually found Thomas in Goose Creek after the 911 calls had been made, but he could not be revived.

"Since that evening, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has conducted a thorough, objective, and impartial investigation into his death," the sheriff's office said.

Loudoun County Fire and Rescue also is investigating the confusion around 911 calls that delayed the response to the drowning. Because 911 calls came from close to the Potomac River, calls went to dispatch centers in both Loudoun and Montgomery County, Maryland, LoudounNow reported this week. The Potomac River is part of Maryland, although Goose Creek, where Thomas was swimming, is in Virginia.

The confusion led to “extended efforts” to determine the emergency’s location, which delayed dispatching Loudoun units, Loudoun County Fire and Rescue said.

Michelle Thomas said at a march sponsored by the NAACP last weekend that there were delays in routing 911 calls and dispatching first responders to the scene, according to LoudounNow. She said it took “almost 40 minutes without professional help.”

NBC4 reported Wednesday that although the calls went to both Loudoun and Montgomery counties, and Thomas was in Virginia waters, only Montgomery County Fire and Rescue was initially dispatched.

At the time of the incident, NBC4's chopper captured video of Montgomery County rescue boats in the water, unable to see or find the scene.

Loudoun Fire and Rescue said in a statement that going forward, "911 operators will dispatch Loudoun units to any incident in adjoining waterways including the Potomac."

The Loudoun Sheriff's office said that as part of its investigation into Thomas's drowning, it has established a timeline of the sequence of events to include the response to the scene; deployed the agency’s dive team to analyze underwater currents, debris and the depth of the water; requested media helicopter footage of the scene from NBC4; deployed a drone to obtain aerial images of the area; and requested full autopsy results from the Office of the Medical Examiner as soon as they become available.

Thomas had finished his junior year at Riverside High School in the Lansdowne area. A GoFundMe page has been created for the Thomas family.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Loudoun County Sheriff's Detective Shannon Coderre at 703-777-0475 or by email at Shannon.Coderre@loudoun.gov.