A Champaign, Illinois man drowned Jan. 1 in a mall pond as increasingly angry observers demanded a rescue, at least 13 minutes after the local fire department arrived at the scene.
The man, Kenneth Brown, 20, slipped under the freezing water 18 minutes after falling through the ice, but local firefighters didn’t launch an inflatable boat until just before he disappeared. The firefighters pulled Brown’s body out of the water roughly an hour after they arrived.
At least one passing resident recorded much of the event, including the moment when Brown went under the water.
Onlookers demanded firefighters rescue the man, and even volunteered for the task, but were told by the Champaign police to stay away.
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