4 p.m. UPDATE: Ridgefield Police Capt. Jeff Kreitz released no information and refused to answer questions on the death of a 15-month-old boy left unattended in a car for hours Monday.
Instead, Kreitz, the department’s public information officer, warned members of roughly a dozen media outlets to refrain from asking questions and proceeded to read an hours-old press release verbatim.
2:15 p.m. UPDATE: Press conference happening at Ridgefield Police Department.
Press waits for conference to start outside Ridgefield Police Department on July 8.
News vans parked outside Ridgefield Police Department on July 8.
Ridgefield police are investigating the death of a 15-month-old boy who was left in a parked vehicle for “an extended period of time” on Monday.
Police said they learned of the death Monday at about 6 p.m. Police said they were told the child was “left unattended inside a parked vehicle for an extended period of time,” according to a press release issued by Ridgefield Police.
The infant’s cause of death has not yet been determined. Police are investigating the death. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the result of an autopsy completed today was listed as “pending further studies.”
Police have not released any further information on the incident, the identity of the victim or his hometown.
Temperatures in the area reached a high of 88 degrees Monday, according to the Weather Undergound. Monday’s humidity was measured at 69 percent.
State police this morning issued a press release warning of the danger of leaving children unattended in hot vehicles. The release did not mention the Ridgefield incident.
“Children should never be left in a locked car and should not ever have access to unlocked, parked vehicles or trunks in this hot humid weather,” the release warned.
Last year, 44 children died in automobile heat-related deaths across the country, state police said in the release. Another 15 have already died this year.
State police said it takes only minutes for the dry heat inside a vehicle in the summer to cause dangerous thermal injuries to children.