13-year-old boy dies after firework hits him on Fourth of July

A teenager died on the Fourth of July after a firework hit him in the chest, according to the Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office.

At 11:14 p.m., officers responded to the 300 block of New Circle Drive in Naytahwaush for a 13-year-old boy who was hit by a firework. Authorities arrived and found that the boy was not breathing and had no pulse.

Life-saving measures were performed, but the boy was pronounced dead just after midnight, the sheriff’s office said.

According to witnesses, the boy, identified as Michael Turner, was holding a large lit firework in his hands, pointing it away from himself. When the firework went off, it shot through the bottom of the tube and hit Turner in the chest.

The sheriff’s office said that Turner then fell to the ground, and bystanders began chest compressions.

The incident remains under investigation.