Pool Party At Vacant Tulsa Home Ends In Drowning

Tulsa police say a pool party at a vacant house ended with a man drowning near 71st and Sheridan.

Police say the 43-year-old man and his friends knew the house was going up for sale and would be empty, so they snuck into the yard at about 1 a.m. to swim.

Some neighbors didn't even know this house was going up for sale, but police say the man who drowned here last night did and decided to take advantage of the empty home. Police say the late-night 4th of July party started around 1 am Friday morning, at a home near 71st and Sheridan.

“They were in a place they shouldn't have been trying to cool off on the 4th, sounds like they needed to pick a better option for that," says Larry Byers.

Byers has lived in this neighborhood for more than 20 years and says nothing quite like this has ever happened here.

"Take the liberty of going into somebody's yard and having that type of thing it's horrible to have somebody drown in any circumstances, but that is certainly a preventable situation," says Byers.

Police say a man who lives in this neighborhood knew this house was going up for sale and would be empty, so he decided to have a pool party.

"They went over to a neighbor's house, uninvited, I mean they weren't allowed to be there and to use this person's pool,” says Richard Meulenberg with Tulsa Police.

The man's friends told police that at some point he went underwater and never resurfaced, they pulled the man out and tried CPR, and called 911 around 7 am.

"We don't think there was any foul play except they weren't supposed to be on the property," says Meulenberg.

Neighbors here say waking up the day after a holiday to news like this is unsettling for such a quiet neighborhood.

"There's not anything the neighborhood can do other than mourn," says Byers.

Police say they don't know if any drugs or alcohol were involved, they're still waiting for the cause of death from the medical examiner.