Simley High School experienced its second tragedy in a month when a freshman drowned Wednesday (June 5, 2002) afternoon while swimming with his friends near campus.

The accident took place at Simley Pond, Cahill Road and 80th St. E., just across from Inver Grove Heights Middle School, which is near the high school. Classmates at the scene Wednesday evening said the victim was 15-year-old Alex Tourville of Inver Grove Heights.

Tourville and a few other friends were swimming from an island in the pond to the Cahill Road shore about 3 p.m. when Tourville started struggling, said Doug Anderson, a friend who witnessed the incident from shore. One of the friends with him in the water went to his aid, but when Tourville assured him he was OK they started for the shore again. A short time later Tourville went under.

When paramedics arrived a few minutes later, several adults were already in the water trying to find the victim, said Brent Dvorak, a paramedic with the South St. Paul Fire Department who responded to the emergency call. The island is connected to land by a bridge, which the students used to get to their starting point.

Someone on shore videotaped the entire incident and the videotape was handed over to Inver Grove Heights Police, Dvorak said.

As rescuers took boats out on the pond, they found that the bottom was about 5 feet deep up to a point 25 feet from shore. "Then it has a sharp drop," Dvorak said. "It's like a cliff."

Divers from the Dakota County Sheriff's Department found Tourville's body a couple of feet beyond the drop-off in about 13 feet of water, Dvorak said. The boy had been in the water about an hour and 15 minutes, and no efforts were made to revive him.

When the body was brought to shore, "the family was all there, unfortunately," Dvorak said.

An autopsy will be conducted today.

Students were let out of school early Wednesday, with dismissal coming just after 11 a.m. The drowning took place at about 3 p.m.

On Wednesday evening, a group of about 40 students and parents gathered near the shore or on the bridge leading out to the island. Some brought roses to lay at the pond's edge.

"He was the nicest kid you'll ever meet," said Anderson, who is also a freshman at Simley.

Classmates of Tourville's at the scene Wednesday said the pond is not a popular swimming spot, as it's shallow and the water is dirty.

They said Tourville played football and baseball for Simley and had lettered in weightlifting.

Today is the last day of school in the district. School psychologists were present Wednesday afternoon and talking to students who witnessed the drowning, said Bruce Rimstad, a school district spokesperson.

A junior at the high school, Amber Marie Tholey, 17, of Inver Grove Heights was killed in a car accident in Eagan on May 11.