Parents raise alarms after a Colton sixth-grader dies after a school soccer game
Coroner’s officials are investigating the death of a Colton sixth-grader who died after a school soccer game, authorities said.
Officials said Dominick Gallegos, 12, a student at Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School, was playing soccer around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday when he suddenly collapsed on the field.
“He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he pronounced dead at 3:14 p.m.,” the San Bernardino County coroner’s office said. “An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.”
Colton police were on campus Wednesday to assist the coroner’s office with the investigation, said Katie Orloff, a spokeswoman for the Colton Joint Unified School District.
A team of crisis counselors are also on campus to assist students, she said.
“They’re upset. We’re all upset,” Orloff said. “This is a really, truly horrible thing and Colton is a very close-knit community, so of course it hits everybody hard.”
Dominick’s parents told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that a school bully stomped on their son’s chest before he lost consciousness.
School officials told Joel Gallegos, the boy’s father, that Dominick fell and lost consciousness after running into another student, according to KTLA. Students said another student stomped on Dominick’s chest twice when he tried to pick up a soccer ball and slipped.
Orloff said the investigation has not revealed any evidence of assault so far.
“What they told us so far is they have not found any evidence of trauma,” Orloff said. “That’s we want our parents and the community to know.”
For more local and breaking news, follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini
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