An aspiring medical student in Shreveport, Louisiana, was declared brain dead after his pals shoved him into a lake while knowing he couldn’t swim, and instead of helping, stood by and watched as the man struggled to save himself, according to police.
Christopher Gilbert, who last year earned his master’s in biological science from Louisiana Tech University, made a ‘miraculous’ recovery following the April 14 incident in which a group of co-workers pushed him off a dock at Lake D’Arbonne in Farmerville, then did nothing to rescue the man as he began drowning.
The disturbing episode was captured on video, which has been making the rounds on social media, showing the group of colleagues sitting casually on the dock of a lake-front restaurant when tragedy struck.
A woman in the group can be seen diving in after Gilbert, but ultimately, she backs off as the man disappears beneath the water.
Others in the group casually looked on but did nothing as Gilbert flailed helplessly and sank.
A full 10 minutes went by before a brave customer at the restaurant jumped into action and pulled Gilbert back to shore.
But by then, it was nearly too late.
Paramedics arrived and rushed Gilbert to a nearby hospital, where the 26-year-old scholar was declared brain dead, with his life in peril as his organs began to shut down his mother, Yolanda George, told news station KSLA.
He was hooked up to a ventilator for 72 hours, as well as an oxygenation machine for respiratory support, which George described as “dialysis for the lungs.”
His condition remains critical, although doctors expect him to survive.
“I was devastated,” George told the station about her son. “I felt like my life had ended in that moment. My son is aspiring to be a medical doctor, my son is going to be a medical doctor. He got his master’s last year in biological science. He’s preparing for medical school, so for this to have happened to him … I was just devastated.”
When questioned by police, Gilbert’s friends initially tried to pass off Gilbert’s near-death experience as “horseplay,” authorities said.
“Why would you push my son in the lake knowing he couldn’t swim?” George asked.
After Gilbert was rescued, his friends even lied to the man’s mother, saying he had fallen into the lake by accident, according to investigators.
As the detectives pressed for more answers, a white woman of similar age to Gilbert eventually admitted to pushing him into the lake.
However, none of the friends admitted to knowing Gilbert couldn’t swim, which the man’s family found difficult to believe.
“We want the person who has admitted to pushing Chris into the lake, we want her arrested,” said George’s attorney, Claudia Payne, who held a press conference on April 30.
“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,” said Payne, who wrote up an incident report obtained by the Lincoln Parish Journal.
So far, authorities have not charged anyone in the incident, while Gilbert’s family is demanding justice, asserting that the friends showed criminal intent by pushing him into the lake.
Payne told KSLA News 12 when asked whether the incident was horseplay. “In the legal field we characterize things the way we see fit. So of course they’re saying horseplay … we’re saying that was a criminal intentional push into the lake.”
Attorney Lee Merritt said the firm was conducting a thorough investigation to determine how the tragic event unfolded while aiming to hold someone accountable, starting with civil action against the restaurant for allowing easy access to the lake.
“We have not received the full participation of law enforcement and other investigators, but we will use every resource at our disposal,” he said.
As of Monday, Gilbert was removed from life support, and while his condition has improved, he still faces a long road to recovery, his mother told KTLA.
“Right now, he’s not out of the red or in the clear, but he has made a lot of progress,” George said.
