Raleigh man drowns while saving boy from Little River in Zebulon

Officials on Monday identified the man who drowned Sunday afternoon while saving a child in Zebulon.

Posted 3:42 p.m. Jul 2, 2018 — Updated 3:42 p.m. Jul 2, 2018

ZEBULON, N.C. — Officials on Monday identified the man who drowned Sunday afternoon while saving a child struggling in the water.

Zebulon police said 36-year-old Jeremie Dale Earp, from Raleigh, swam out to help a young boy near the Little River dam at about 6:15 p.m.

"Our investigation, at this point, tells us there was s 7-year-old boy or 8-year-old boy that was swimming. The child got into some sort of trouble while swimming. This gentleman jumped in the water to try and help the boy and was able to help the boy get into more shallow water, but then he disappeared under the water himself," said Chief Timothy Hayworth with Zebulon police.

Police said two people jumped in to pull the man from the water and they began performing CPR. Emergency responders tried for an hour to resuscitate Earp but were unsuccessful.

"We really don't have those answers yet, but we do know he was attempting to do something heroic and in fact did. That [boy] is fine and has been checked out by EMS and is OK," Hayworth said.

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