Child Thrown Off Train Trestle Into River, Prompting Investigation and Outrage Online

Video of a child being thrown from a railroad bridge in Washington State last week has sparked outrage and a law enforcement investigation.

No arrests have been made, but the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office is recommending charges of reckless endangerment both for the boy's mother and the man who tossed the child into the Wynoochee River, west of Olympia Wednesday, about 3 p.m. PT, Sheriff Rick Scott told NBC Tuesday.

A witness captured video of the incident and posted it to Facebook, where it has more than a half-million views. It shows the boy tumbling through the air below the red trestle before splashing into the river. Scott confirmed the video showed the incident.

"As soon as he hit the water, my heart sank, I felt so bad, I didn't know what to do," Kaylub Fawley, who shot the video in Montesano, told NBC affiliate KING.

The child did not sustain any injuries, Scott said, noting that he landed on his back.

"We did call aid to go out there and confirm, and he was fine," Scott said.

Witnesses and those involved got into an altercation afterward, and deputies arrived within minutes, Scott said.

He said the mother is 22 and the man who threw the child into the water is 35. The adults are not being named pending action from the prosecutor's office, which could bring charges.

The adults claim they didn't know each other until that day, and that the 4-year-old had wanted to jump off the bridge like the other grown-ups, according to Scott.

The Grays Harbor county prosecutor wasn't immediately available for comment.

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