MILTON, Mass. -- Questions persisted Monday about what happened at a Milton pond when a small boy was pulled from the water.

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that bystanders claimed they were forced to perform CPR on the 3-year-old Sunday at Houghton's Pond when lifeguards refused, but that's not the story supervisors gave.

Anthony Graham found the boy at about 4 p.m. floating in the water, face down.

"I just grabbed him, and I brought him to shore and put him down. I laid him down, turned him to the side, and this young lady, she said she knew CPR, and she started resuscitating him. He pretty much started wheezing and foam came out of his mouth," Graham said.

Witnesses said that lifeguards did not react.

"They ran around and just stood around while some random people gave him CPR. They said that they didn't have a mouth guard and they weren't going to do anything unless they had precautions," witness Justine Ramos said. "I was surprised. I was shocked. I was crying. The little boy was not breathing, and they weren't doing anything,"

"That is not our understanding of the order of the events," Chief Recreation Director Gary Briere said.

State officials said that a lifeguard examined the child within seconds of being brought out of the water.

"He was brought out onto the shore. The lifeguard on hand determined that he had a pulse. He was breathing, and he was gurgling water and some vomit. He started to throw up a bit. The lifeguard determined that the boy did not need CPR," DCR Commissioner Stephen Burrington said.

Officials said that mouth guards were available at the scene.

"I don't think that (they knew) what to do. Not sure if they were young kids or inexperienced, but they never took over at the scene," Graham said.

The commissioner criticized the women who administered CPR.

"It appears that person made a mistake," Burrington said.

The incident remains under investigation.