Police arrest 4 in connection to hyperbaric chamber fire that killed 5-year-old Michigan boy: report
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Police in Troy, Michigan, have arrested four people in connection to the death of a 5-year-old boy who was inside a hyperbaric chamber when it exploded at a medical facility in January, including the owner of the facility, according to reports.

FOX 2 in Detroit reported that Tammi Peterson, the founder and CEO of The Oxford Center in Troy, was arrested at her home on Monday morning just before 7 a.m. for the death of 5-year-old Thomas Cooper.

Peterson is expected to be charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, the station reported.

Her company owned and operated the hyperbaric chamber that Cooper was inside when it exploded.

thomas-cooper-2

Thomas Cooper died when the chamber he was inside exploded in Michigan. (Family of Thomas Cooper)

Thomas was receiving treatment that consisted of 100% oxygen on Jan. 31 at The Oxford Center, located about 24 miles north of Detroit.

“She was in the waiting room and was alerted that … something wrong had happened. She rushed back to where her son was, and she tried and tried and tried to get him out and … was unable to,” James Harrington of Fieger Law told Fox News Digital. “She sustained serious, significant burns in that attempt to rescue her child.”

Fieger Law is investigating the incident, and Harrington believes The Oxford Center “was understaffed and did not have the resources for an emergency like this.”

The Oxford Center stated on its website: “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is an alternative treatment which will decrease inflammation, oxygenate the entire body, stimulate the growth of new healthy blood vessels, and release stem cells, up to 800% more after 20 sessions. Studies have reported improvement in concentration, communication, working memory and sleep.”

When Troy police and fire officials arrived on the scene, Thomas was dead inside the chamber while Annie suffered injuries to her arm.

Annie and her husband, Thomas’ father, James Cooper, buried the 5-year-old on Feb. 13. Thomas “was known to all his friends, family, and teachers as a curious, energetic, smart, outgoing, and thoughtful little boy,” his obituary stated. 

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.

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