A 2023 Louisiana Tech graduate remains in intensive care in a Shreveport hospital after a heroic rescue by a stranger and subsequent medical aid from a law enforcement officer after he was pulled from Lake D’arbonne Sunday.
The family, through its attorney, is urging the Farmerville Police Department to make an arrest of the person who allegedly pushed Gilbert into the lake during an outing.
Sunday evening Gilbert and some friends went to Rhett’s Tail and Shells on Lake D’arbonne in Farmerville. Ruston personal injury attorney Claudia Payne, representing Gilbert’s mother Yolanda George, said a member of the group pushed Gilbert into the water. When Gilbert did not surface, bystanders not affiliated with the group went into the water to rescue him.
According to a report by a sergeant with the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office, members of the group said Gilbert fell in face first and they thought he was playing a prank. Later, authorities were told a female in the group pushed Gilbert in during some “horse play.”
Apparently no one in the group knew Gilbert could not swim and no one went in after him.
“What was initially told to officers of Farmerville Police Department was that Chris fell on his own into Lake D’arbonne,” Payne wrote about the incident. “However, later on that night an individual within the ‘friend’ group, a white female, who we believe to be around the same age as Chris, admitted to pushing him into the water.”
Payne noted, “To add insult to injury, after pushing him, no one from the ‘friend group’ attempted to go in after him. Instead, two brave bystanders, who have no relationship to Chris, heard commotion and retrieved his body from the lake.”
UPSO Sgt. Ashley Rhodes wrote in her report that bystander Dawson Foust dove into the lake and found Gilbert in approximately 15 feet of water. Sgt. Rhodes was joined by another bystander, Keith Pridgen, in administering CPR until EMS arrived.
Gilbert graduated from Louisiana Tech University in May 2023 with his Masters of Science in biology.
Payne said, “While my office has been retained to represent the family civilly, nothing else is needed for any law enforcement agency within this jurisdiction to make an arrest. Our office would like the community’s support in requesting that the Farmerville Police Department, and or the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office make an arrest of the known individual who pushed Chris into the lake.”
The officer investigating the matter for the Farmerville Police Department could not be reached for comment.
