SLIPPERY ROCK TWP, Lawrence County — A Butler man drowned Wednesday evening while swimming with friends in Slippery Rock Creek, state police said.

Mazzarney K. Sanford, 22, went under the water in the Kennedy Mills portion of the creek and never resurfaced.

The drowning happened about 6:20 p.m. in a popular swimming spot not far from a bridge where other swimmers have died over the years.

Police said Sanford was swimming with several friends from the Butler area about 300 yards below the Kennedy Mills Bridge when he began struggling in the water.

Moments earlier, authorities said, he reportedly had been using a rope swing.

At the time, there were 50 to 60 people in the creek.

Sanford’s friends and others nearby attempted to rescue him but to no avail.

Several dozen divers and other rescuers from Lawrence and Butler counties were called. Officials said he was found an hour to 90 minutes later. His body was in 15 to 20- feet of water and wedged between two rocks.

An ambulance later took Sanford to Jameson Hospital in New Castle, where he was pronounced dead.

Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga said an autopsy was planned today.

Police were assisted by volunteer divers and firefighters from Unionville in Butler County and Slippery Rock, Scott and Shenango townships and New Castle in Lawrence County.

Noga said he recalled a drowning in the same area of Slippery Rock Creek about two years ago.

In 2004, a 16-year-old boy drowned while swimming in the creek’s Kennedy Mills portion.