photo by: Mike Yoder

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical crews gather around a pond near Free State High School where a 16-year-old boy was injured Monday, May 9, 2016. A medical helicopter is visible in the background.

A 16-year-old boy was injured Monday afternoon while jumping into a retention pond near Free State High School, fire and medical officials said.

The boy is a student at the high school, Lawrence school district spokeswoman Julie Boyle said.

Emergency responders were called to the pond on Overland Drive about 12:30 p.m. Monday, said Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Chief Mark Bradford. The pond is not on school property and sits between Overland Drive and Champion Lane, also near Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive.

The boy suffered nonlife-threatening injuries and was conscious as he was flown to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., Bradford said.

Students at both Lawrence high schools have open lunch, and are allowed to leave campus during the 25-minute period as long as they return to their classes on time. Free State senior Kardal Hart, 19, said he was walking past the pond on his way back from a nearby restaurant when he heard students saying someone was going to jump in. Hart said he stopped and saw the boy running toward the pond.

“And so he runs up to it and then he stops, and then he just dives head first, like straight in,” Hart said.

After the boy dived in, Hart said he appeared to lie toward the bottom of the pond momentarily before surfacing with an evident head injury. Hart said the boy was saying he couldn’t feel his legs, so Hart then got in the water and helped pull him to the edge of the pond.

Hart said he did not know the boy or what events led up to the incident. Hart said that during lunch periods it’s common for students to hang out near the pond, which he said varies in depth but is about waist deep in some areas.

The nature of the boy’s injuries could not be confirmed as of Monday afternoon. Bradford said it was not immediately clear why the boy jumped into the pond.

— Reporter Rochelle Valverde contributed to this report.

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