Dead baby pulled from New York City's East River after apparently being tossed from Brooklyn Bridge, cops say

Authorities investigate the death of a baby boy who was found floating in the water near the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan. (AP)

A baby boy was found unresponsive in the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday, prompting New York City officials to launch an investigation into the child's death.

A family visiting from Oklahoma spotted the approximately 8-month-old boy wearing a diaper in the shallow water around 4 p.m. Monte Campbell said his wife, Diana, first spotted the child.

“I thought it was a doll,” Campbell told The New York Times. “911, they put me on hold and at that point I decided I had to go make sure. So I handed the phone to her and got the baby.”

Campbell walked into the East River to retrieve the baby and started CPR. He said the baby had no respiration and didn’t show a pulse.

Police arrived on the scene minutes later and brought the baby onto a pedestrian walkway and continued CPR. The baby was later taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead, police said.

There was no parent or guardian present on the scene and the child showed no signs of trauma, police said. It wasn’t clear how long the baby had been in the water.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.