A 3-year-old visiting a Rita's Water Ice in Philadelphia with her mother was killed when a security gate came crashing down on her Saturday afternoon.
Wynter Larkin and her mother, Cheryl, were at the shop in Philadelphia's Brewerytown neighborhood to attend a fundraiser for the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
The child was trapped after a 2,000-pound metal security door at Rita's broke loose and fell on top of her.
"It was more than a thud," witness Allison Brady told WPVI-TV. "It was a big bang, some people thought it was a gunshot."
Tracey Standford, who also saw the accident, added, "We saw the awning laying on the ground but didn't realize there was a baby under the awning until the mother started screaming."
Witnesses lifted the door off the girl and performed CPR, WPVI-TV reports. She was then taken by ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:02 p.m., officials said.
No one else was injured.
Rita's spokeswoman Linda Duke expressed the company's condolences in a statement.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to the child's family," said Duke. "Due to the current investigation we really cannot comment about the unfortunate incident."
