A 9-year-old boy died after falling into the water behind the IKEA furniture store in Red Hook on Wednesday night.
Cops said the child — who was reportedly autistic and nonverbal — went missing from the store, where he had been shopping with his family, just before 9 p.m. He was spotted on security footage leaving the building and heading toward the Erie Basin directly adjacent to IKEA’s parking lot.
Articles of the 9-year-old’s clothing were seen floating in the water, police said, and the NYPD launched a frantic investigation of the area using helicopters, K-9s, boats, and police divers while the child’s parents looked on.
The boy was found and pulled from the water just after midnight on Aug. 17 and was immediately transported to New York Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An investigation is ongoing, per the NYPD. Police sources believed the child had jumped into the water.
— Additional reporting by Lloyd Mitchell
