The Michigan State Police’s Wayland Post said in a press release that the incident occurred on Thursday at around 5:30 p.m. local time when authorities were called to a residence located in Maple Grove Township in Barry County.
Officials with the Michigan State Police were called to the home on Lawrence Road following reports of an “accidental death,” the press release said.
Police said that the 7-year-old boy and his father were working with heavy machinery on their property. The child’s father was driving the bulldozer while his son rode on a trailer connected to it, according to the press release.
The boy accidentally fell off the trailer and was run over by the bulldozer. Michigan State Police pronounced the 7-year-old boy deceased on the scene, they said in the press release.
Authorities are calling the incident accidental and do not believe that any drugs or alcohol played a factor in the boy’s death.
“The names of individuals involved are being withheld at this time,” police said. “The incident remains open pending further investigation.”
Michigan State police Lt. DuWayne Robinson told The Detroit News that the bulldozer involved in the incident has malfunctioned in the past. Robinson said the bulldozer has been known to stop unexpectedly and change gears into reverse on its own, which is what officials believe happened on Thursday, causing the boy’s death.
Newsweek reached out to the Michigan State Police for comment.
This is sadly not the first time a child has been accidentally run over by a bulldozer, causing a fatality.
In May 2020, an 8-year-old boy riding on an ATV was accidentally killed in New York state after being run over by a bulldozer driven by his father.
“It appears they had some sort of contact, which drew the ATV in under the track,” Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple told the Albany Times Union at the time.
The 8-year-old boy was pronounced deceased at the scene. “One of the worst days in years. Cherish today. #prayforthefamily,” Apple wrote in a tweet shortly after the incident.
