Instructor 'permanently suspended' after 12-year-old North Texas girl's scuba death

DALLAS - The Scuba Ranch in Kaufman County has released a new statement regarding the death of a 12-year-old Rockwall girl during a certification class.

North Texas 12-year-old's Scuba Death

What's new:

The Scuba Ranch revealed in the statement that immediately after 12-year-old Dylan Harrison’s death in August, the property permanently suspended the instructor, Bill Armstrong, from teaching at the facility.

It also suspended the company holding the certification class, Scuba Toys, pending the results of the investigation.

Below is the full statement from The Scuba Ranch:

We are heartbroken by the recent tragic loss of a young life at our lake. Our deepest sympathy and prayers are with her family and friends, during this unimaginably difficult time.

The Scuba Ranch exists to provide a safe and accessible freshwater environment for qualified Dive Instructors to conduct their training. The Scuba Ranch does not employ Dive Instructors, and does not provide, direct, or supervise instruction received. All Dive Instructors are independent of The Scuba Ranch and not affiliated with us other than as a customer. We do require that all instructors using our facilities follow recognized scuba safety standards outlined by their credentialing agency, as well as professional judgment, to train students safely.

Immediately after this event occurred, out of an abundance of caution, we permanently suspended the instructor (Bill Armstrong) from teaching at our facility.  Scuba Toys was also suspended from training pending the results of this investigation. This step was taken solely to ensure that safety remains the top priority for divers while at The Scuba Ranch.

This tragedy has deeply affected the entire dive community, and we will continue to support those impacted as best we can. We, along with all of you, are awaiting the facts and details to be released with complete transparency so that we may learn from what happened.

The Scuba Ranch has and continues to be fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation and remains committed to supporting all efforts to understand what happened. We pray this family receives the answers, justice, and closure they deserve, and that all of the dive community would be strengthened through what we learn from this tragedy.

The Scuba Ranch also clarified that it is classified as a recreational facility. It does not train divers or instructors and does not supervise classes. However, all dive schools and instructors must have the proper credentials to use the facility to teach scuba diving.

The backstory:

Harrison drowned on Aug. 16 during what was supposed to be a happy day. She was set to get her scuba diving certification from Scuba Toys while attending a class at The Scuba Ranch in Terrell. With that certificate, she would be able to join her dad and grandfather scuba diving.

There are lots of questions about what happened next.

According to witness affidavits obtained by the family's attorney, there were eight students, an instructor, and a dive master in the class. 

During the class, Harrison went missing. Her body was later found away from the platform at a depth of about 45 feet, according to the family's attorney.

The family has questions about why witnesses claimed Armstrong, a Collin County Assistant Chief Deputy, was out of the water and "bone dry" as they began searching for Harrison and why crucial data from dive computers was never collected. One of those dive computers is now lost, according to the attorney.

The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office confirmed an "open criminal investigation."

Continued Coverage

• Crucial evidence 'lost' in scuba death investigation of North Texas 12-year-old, lawyer says
• Scuba expert who witnessed NTX 12-year-old's death questions ongoing investigation
• Scuba expert says NTX 12-year-old's death highlights risky training practices