WXIA-TV, Atlanta

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. -- A recent high school graduate drowned early Sunday morning after his friends tied him to a shopping cart and pushed him into a lake as part of a game.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Melissa Cummings says Chance Werner of Cartersville died at Lake Allatoona about 35 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Witnesses say 18 year-old Chance Werner of Cartersville was playing a game with friends during which a person would sit in a shopping cart tied to a pole. Then the cart was forcefully pushed off the dock,causing the person to "pop" out of the cart and the person would swim to the dock.

Officers say the cart was tied to Werner and it pulled him into the water, and he did not resurface.

Werner, who witnesses say graduated from Woodland High School on Saturday, was recovered by DNR, with assistance from Bartow County Sheriff's Office and Bartow County Fire and Rescue, at 2:50 a.m. in 30 feet of water still tied to the cart.