Outrage Over Video of Man Tossing Boy, 4, From Bridge

Authorities are investigating
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 30, 2016 1:08 AM CDT
Updated Aug 30, 2016 6:12 AM CDT

A horrified stranger recorded a man throwing a 4-year-old off a railroad bridge into Washington state's Wynoochee River last week, then posted the video to Facebook, where outrage was swift. "This is a woman me and all my friends witnessed letting a 'stranger' throw her 4 1/2 year old son of the bridge yesterday into the water for fun!!" wrote Kaylub Fawley. "He landed straight on his upper back so the ... police were called." Since the video of the 27-foot plunge was posted Thursday, it's been shared more than 2,800 times and includes comments like, "You can hear how hard he hit the water. Doesn't matter if the kid said yes he didn't know it would hurt. I would've said yes too at that age."

But another witness tells KSDK the boy didn't seem to have agreed to the stunt: "He was screaming and crying, it was terrible." KOMO reports that, per witnesses, the man eventually jumped into the water himself after the child. The Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Department says the child's mother and the man who threw him from the bridge were cited for reckless endangerment, and the man was also cited for trespassing since the bridge is private property. KING 5 reports that the boy was not hurt, but that Child Protective Services is involved in the investigation. (This mom faces endangerment charges after leaving her kids in a hotel room to make a food run while on vacation.)

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