TWRA: 1 boating-related death, 5 serious injury incidents over Labor Day Weekend

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) reports one boating-related death and five serious injury incidents occurred over Labor Day Weekend.

Jose Alatorre, 40, of Smyrna, died Saturday evening on Percy Priest Lake in Rutherford County. TWRA saysAlatorre and a 6-year-old girl, believed to be his daughter, fell off a jet ski.

Alatorre managed to tread water long enough for kayakers to paddle and bring the young girl to safety before he went under the water. A nearby boater made several attempts to try to find Alatorre. Authorities recovered his body shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday.

In a separate incident, a man from Hamilton, Ohio, is in critical but stable condition after he and a woman fell while standing on the bow of a boat and were run over on Norris Lake in Campbell County. The TWRA says Wiliam Sharp received cuts from the boat's propeller and was airlifted to UT Medical Center. Gabriella Wimmer, of Marysville, Ohio, was treated and released from Tennova Medical Center North.

Stemming from a different incident, a Cincinnati resident was charged with underage alcohol consumption and reckless operation of a vessel.

Overall, there werefive serious injury incidents, five property damage incidents reported, and two boating under the influence (BUI) arrests made over the holiday weekend.

The Labor Day boating death marks 18 boating-related fatalities in 2021. That number is down from the 24 reported through the same period last year, TWRA says.