Pennsylvania teen accidentally drowns after jumping into creek; Coroner warns of water dangers
TODAY IN THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. AND IT’S FRIDAY. CHRISTINE HAS THE FORECAST. WGAL NEWS EIGHT. TODAY STARTS NOW. IT IS FRIDAY. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. IT’S 430. I’M MATT BARCARO. I’M KATELYN SMITH. LET’S GO STRAIGHT TO CHRISTINE. A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE EXCITED ABOUT GRADUATION TIME AND GREAT WEATHER FOR IT. PERFECT WEATHER. A TEN OUT OF TEN TODAY. EASY. LET ME SHOW YOU OUR FORECAST THIS MORNING. WE DO HAVE A FANTASTIC FRIDAY FOR YOU WEATHER HEADLINES INTO THE WEEKEND. DRY AND PLEASANT. AND NEXT WEEK MAINLY DRY. SO IF YOU ARE A FAN OF THE NICE COMFORTABLE WEATHER THAT WE HAD YESTERDAY, THAT DOES STICK AROUND. CURRENTLY TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE 40S AND 50S THIS MORNING UNDER CLEAR SKIES. LOOK AT THE DEW POINTS THERE IN THE 40S. THAT IS REFRESHING. DRY, CRISP AIR. NOT LIKE WHAT WE HAD JUST TWO DAYS AGO WHEN IT WAS KIND OF SOUPY OUTSIDE. HERE’S THE 12 HOUR FORECAST. PLENTIFUL SUNSHINE TODAY, A HIGH OF 78. NOT QUITE AS BREEZY AS YESTERDAY, BUT WE WILL STILL HAVE A LIGHT WESTERLY BREEZE OVERALL. JUST A PICTURE PERFECT FRIDAY. NICE END TO THE WEEK. BACK TO YOU. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. RIGHT NOW A STRETCH OF INTERSTATE 83 IN YORK COUNTY IS BACK OPEN AFTER THE CORONER WAS CALLED TO A CRASH THERE, 911 DISPATCHERS SAY THIS HAPPENED JUST BEFORE TEN LAST NIGHT NEAR THE LOGANVILLE EXIT IN YORK TOWNSHIP. WE’RE TOLD THAT MULTIPLE VEHICLES WERE INVOLVED, BUT NO OTHER DETAILS HAVE BEEN RELEASED. THERE’S ALSO ANOTHER CRASH THAT HAPPENED IN YORK TOWNSHIP AROUND THAT SAME TIME. TAKE A LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS OF THE AFTERMATH OF THAT CRASH. YORK COUNTY REGIONAL POLICE SAY THOSE TWO CARS CRASHED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF SOUTH PLEASANT AVENUE AND NEW SCHOOL LANE. AGAIN, THIS WAS AROUND TEN LAST NIGHT. POLICE TELL US THERE WERE INJURIES BUT DIDN’T SAY HOW MANY OR HOW SERIOUS THEY WERE. STATE POLICE IN PERRY COUNTY INVESTIGATING A DEADLY ATV CRASH THAT KILLED A CHILD. THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED IN A RURAL PART OF CARROLL TOWNSHIP. STATE POLICE SAY THREE PEOPLE WERE RIDING THE ATV YESTERDAY MORNING WHEN IT CRASHED ON PISGAH ROAD. TROOPERS SAY A CHILD DIED AND AN ADULT WAS FLOWN TO THE HOSPITAL. A SECOND CHILD WHO WAS ON THE ATV AS WELL WAS NOT HURT. I WAS SCROLLING ON FACEBOOK AND I SAW A POST ON PERRY COUNTY ALERTS OF THE ACCIDENT, AND I SAW THE ADDRESS AND I’M LIKE, HOLY –. IT’S LIKE RIGHT NEAR MY HOUSE. I LOOKED IT UP ON GOOGLE MAPS AND IT WAS LITERALLY MY NEIGHBOR, SOMEBODY I HAVEN’T MET YET. I CAME OUTSIDE WITH MY DOGS AND I COULD HEAR LIKE THE FIRE TRUCKS, STATE POLICE HAVE NOT RELEASED THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO WERE ON THE ATV. THE RED CROSS IS HELPING FOUR PEOPLE IN LANCASTER THIS MORNING AFTER A FIRE CONDEMNED TWO HOMES. LANCASTER FIREFIGHTERS GOT THAT CALL JUST AFTER 4:00 YESTERDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE FIRE ON EAST CHESTNUT STREET. IT WAS NEAR NORTH MARSHALL STREET, ACCORDING TO THE CHIEF. WHEN CREWS GOT THERE, THEY FOUND FLAMES COMING FROM THE BACK OF THE HOME NEAR THE ROOF OF THE SECOND FLOOR. WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I PRAYED FOR HER BECAUSE SHE’S MY NEIGHBOR AND I PRAYED FOR HER THAT. MY HOUSE WOULD BE SAVED. IT WASN’T THAT INTENSE. WHEN I FIRST GOT OUT THERE, BUT AS I LOOKED, IT GOT MORE INTENSE AND THE FIREFIGHTERS WERE KIND ENOUGH TO TO GO INSIDE THE ROOF TO CONTAIN THE FIRE. NO ONE WAS HURT, AND AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CAUSE IS UNDERWAY. LANCASTER’S FIRE CHIEF SAYS THE SMOKE ALARMS GAVE EVERYONE ENOUGH TIME TO GET OUT SAFELY. FOUR MEN ARE FACING CHARGES AFTER A BURGLARY THAT HAPPENED AT A HOUSE WHERE A MURDER SUICIDE WAS LAST WEEK. WE TOLD YOU YESTERDAY ABOUT THE STUDENT THAT WAS ARRESTED AT UPPER DAUPHIN HIGH SCHOOL, AND POLICE FOUND A GUN IN HIS CAR IN THE PARKING LOT. WE NOW KNOW POLICE ARRESTED KYLE YEAGLEY JUNIOR ALONG WITH JOHN MORALES. GAGE DEIBERT AND SEAN BLAKE. STATE POLICE SAY THE FOUR STOLE FROM THE JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP HOME OF UPPER DAUPHIN AREA HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER KAREN MORGAN, WHO WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY HER HUSBAND, DENNIS, LAST THURSDAY. DENNIS MORGAN THEN SHOT HIMSELF IN THE CORONER’S OFFICE, SAYS HE HAS SINCE DIED. INVESTIGATORS SAY THE FOUR MEN THEN BURGLARIZED THEIR HOME ON SUNDAY. STATE POLICE SAY THE GUN FOUND INSIDE YEAGLEY’S CAR AT THE SCHOOL WAS ONE OF NEARLY A DOZEN TAKEN FROM MORGAN’S HOME. THEY’RE ALSO ACCUSED OF TAKING ALCOHOL AND ELECTRONICS. LANCASTER CITY POLICE ARE NOW KEEPING THE STEADY RED AND BLUE LIGHTS THAT ARE ON THE TOP OF THEIR VEHICLES ON AT ALL TIMES, AND THEY POSTED THIS VIDEO TO THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE YESTERDAY, EXPLAINING THAT. HI, MY NAME IS OFFICER ALEXANDER LEWIS WITH THE LAKE CITY POLICE. YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN WONDERING WHY OUR CRUISER LIGHTS ARE ON. SO THE REASONS THAT WE HAVE OUR CRUISER LIGHTS ON IS FIRSTLY BECAUSE OF HIGH VISIBILITY. WE WANT EVERYBODY TO BE ABLE TO SEE WHERE THEY CAN GO FOR HELP. SECOND REASON IS SO THAT WITH OUR LIGHTS ON, MORE PEOPLE CAN SEE US AND BE LESS LIKELY FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO COMMIT CRIME. TO YORK. NOW, WHERE THREE WEEKS AFTER A DEADLY SHOOTING THAT TOOK THE LIFE OF A 15 YEAR OLD IN YORK, WE ARE HEARING FROM PEOPLE AS POLICE HAVE PUT UP THIS CAMERA IN PENN PARK. INVESTIGATORS SAY OTHER CAMERAS IN THE CITY HELPED IDENTIFY THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN HARRIS’S DEATH. THIS CAMERA AT PENN PARK WAS PUT UP THERE AFTER THE SHOOTING, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS SAY THEY WANT MORE OF THOSE CAMERAS TO HELP STOP VIOLENCE. EVERY CAMERA YOU PUT IN HERE, IT’S GOING TO HELP, BUT THEY NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE VISIBLE. NOT JUST LIKE ON A POLE OR SOMETHING FROM SOMEWHERE. THEY KNOW IT’S HERE. WELL, THAT CAMERA HAS A 360 VIEW AND MOVES ONCE IT DETECTS MOVEMENT IN THE AREA. PEOPLE ARE ALSO HOPING THAT THERE’S MORE LIGHTING PUT UP IN PENN PARK TO HELP DETER CRIME. POLICE IN STEELTON IN DAUPHIN COUNTY, SAY THEY ARE INCREASING THEIR POLICE PRESENCE AND ALSO ENFORCING A CURFEW, AS STUDENTS ARE GETTING OUT OF SCHOOL FOR THE SUMMER. POLICE SAY CHILDREN UNDER 15 CANNOT BE ON PUBLIC STREETS BETWEEN 10:00 AT NIGHT AND SIX IN THE MORNING. NOW THOSE HOURS START ONE HOUR LATER AT 11:00 AT NIGHT. FOR TEENS WHO ARE 16 AND 17. STEELTON POLICE SAY THERE WILL BE INCREASED PATROLS TO ENFORCE THE CURFEW AND ALSO LOITERING ORDINANCES THIS YEAR. STEELTON DID HAVE TWO SHOOTINGS AT BUSINESSES IN THE BOROUGH. MAYOR SIERRA DENT SAYS SHE IS WORKING WITH BOROUGH COUNCIL NOW ON ORDINANCES TO HOLD THOSE BUSINESSES OR ANY BUSINESS THAT BECOMES A THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY. ACCOUNTABLE. IN ADAMS COUNTY, THERE’S BEEN A BLACK BEAR ON THE. THE WALK THERE IN GETTYSBURG. THIS IS VIDEO FROM THE HANOVER STREET AREA FROM GETTYSBURG. GETTYSBURG POLICE SAY BLACK BEARS ARE GENERALLY SHY, TEND TO AVOID PEOPLE, BUT THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE STAYING SAFE AS WELL. IF YOU DO SEE THIS BEAR OR ANY BEAR, THE STATE GAME COMMISSION SAYS THAT YOU SHOULD CALL THEM OR GETTYSBURG POLICE IF YOU’RE IN GETTYSBURG FOR THIS ONE. POLICE SAY DON’T APPROACH THE BEAR. BUT IF Y
Pennsylvania teen accidentally drowns after jumping into creek; Coroner warns of water dangers
Updated: 11:30 AM EDT May 29, 2026
A Lehigh County teenager died Thursday after jumping into a creek and drowning, according to the coroner. Video above: Headlines from WGAL News 8 Today. Investigators said Ameer Simmons, of Allentown, jumped from a railroad trestle near the 300 block of Basin Street into Jordan Creek, a tributary of Little Lehigh Creek, and did not resurface. The coroner said Simmons was pronounced dead at the scene, and his death was ruled an accidental drowning. Officials said the incident prompted a large emergency response, including a dive team, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, a drone team, and police, fire and EMS personnel. Hidden dangers of waterways As warmer weather approaches and more people spend time near the water, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office is reminding the public about the dangers of local waterways. “Every year, we respond to incidents that serve as a reminder of how quickly a day of recreation can turn into a tragedy,” the coroner said. Officials warned that natural waterways can be unpredictable because of changing currents, varying depths, hidden hazards and cold water temperatures. “Please keep a close eye on one another, avoid taking unnecessary risks, and never underestimate the dangers that water can present,” the coroner said. See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at https://www.wgal.com/upload.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. —
A Lehigh County teenager died Thursday after jumping into a creek and drowning, according to the coroner.
Video above: Headlines from WGAL News 8 Today.
Investigators said Ameer Simmons, of Allentown, jumped from a railroad trestle near the 300 block of Basin Street into Jordan Creek, a tributary of Little Lehigh Creek, and did not resurface.
The coroner said Simmons was pronounced dead at the scene, and his death was ruled an accidental drowning.
Officials said the incident prompted a large emergency response, including a dive team, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, a drone team, and police, fire and EMS personnel.
Hidden dangers of waterways
As warmer weather approaches and more people spend time near the water, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office is reminding the public about the dangers of local waterways.
“Every year, we respond to incidents that serve as a reminder of how quickly a day of recreation can turn into a tragedy,” the coroner said.
Officials warned that natural waterways can be unpredictable because of changing currents, varying depths, hidden hazards and cold water temperatures.
“Please keep a close eye on one another, avoid taking unnecessary risks, and never underestimate the dangers that water can present,” the coroner said.
See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at https://www.wgal.com/upload.