Philadelphia police found a man at the bottom of a fellow officer’s murky swimming pool in Winchester Park last Thursday night, but detectives have ruled out foul play based on a surveillance video of the likely drowning.
The death occurred at a home on the 2800 block of Winchester Ave. Patrol cops went there at 10:53 p.m. after the homeowner reported that her 45-year-old friend had disappeared, said Officer Jillian Russell, a police department spokeswoman.
According to Capt. Jack McGinnis of Northeast Detectives, officers from the 8th district went to the backyard and spotted the victim at the bottom of the nine-foot deep end of the pool. The water was dark and dirty, McGinnis said, but the officers dove in and pulled the victim to the surface.
Paramedics soon arrived and pronounced the man dead. His identity has not been released. Results of a medical examination are pending, but the victim had no visible wounds or bruises, McGinnis said.
Detectives recovered surveillance video of the pool. In the video, the victim can be seen swimming alone moments before he disappears below the surface.
“He’s in the pool, going back and forth and then he goes down,” McGinnis said. “A few minutes later, the (home) owner comes outside, but doesn’t see him.”
The homeowner, a female police lieutenant, called 911. She was off duty at the time. No one else was at the home. ••
