The Cohasset police chief is calling on residents to rally together to support the family of a 2-year-old boy who died from injuries he suffered in an incident at an auto repair shop on South Main Street.
The boy’s grandfather, owner of Hajj Auto Service, rushed his grandson to the Cohasset Police Department, closeby the shop, at about 12:40 p.m. Thursday, just moments after the incident occurred, Chief William Quigley told reporters around 4:15.
Quigley called it a “horrible tragedy,” saying the circumstances around it are under investigation by detectives from his department, Massachusetts State Police and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
The family resides in Hull but has had a presence in Cohasset over the years, Quigley said.
“This is a family that has had this garage in town for many years,” he said. “At this point, I would ask the residents of the town to get behind these folks. It’s clearly a difficult time for them, and they should be in everybody’s prayers.”
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been called and was responding to the scene to assist in the investigation, Quigley said. Detectives are looking into whether a piece of equipment behind the shop was involved in the incident and whether the grandfather had been operating the machinery at the time the tragedy struck, he said.
Investigators were seen taking photos of a yellow bucket in front of a bobcat at the shop.
“At this point, it doesn’t appear to be anything nefarious,” Quigley said, “but obviously with a child dead, we have to look into this.”
An ambulance had responded to the shop for an employee who was shaken up after witnessing the incident, the chief said. He also sent one of his officers home early, while a debriefing had been planned for later in the afternoon, he said.
“The officers are taking it very tough,” Quigley said.
A Cohasset ambulance rushed the boy to South Shore Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after.
“Every effort was made to do the best for the child,” Quigley said.
