An Oakland man drowned at Shasta Lake while swimming across a cove on Fourth of July, the Shasta County sheriff’s office said.
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He was identified as Antonio Fernandez, 49.
An emergency call shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday brought deputies to the lake’s Sacramento River arm near the Beehive camping area. Witnesses said Fernandez was one of several people who had gone into the lake to assist some youths with a personal watercraft; he went under the surface of the water and failed to reappear.
With help from Forest Service employees, deputies used sonar to locate the victim in the water, and dive team members recovered his body.
Fernandez is the fourth person known to have died at Shasta Lake this year:
• In June, an 87-year-old Oregon man suffered a medical emergency while swimming near a houseboat.
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• Also in June, a 47-year-old man from Palo Cedro, near Redding, suffered fatal injuries when he was ejected from a boat that struck the shoreline.
• A 5-year-old boy drowned in April after going into the water without a flotation vest.
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