Posted on 02/01/2008 10:57:53 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A 7-year-old boy is in critical condition after being found hanging by his shirt collar from a clothing hook in a charter school's dressing room, and police tried to determine Thursday whether it was an attack or an accident.
The shirt collar cut off the boy's oxygen, and he was unconscious when a teacher found him Wednesday, said police Lt. Mark Spangler. He was in critical condition at a hospital Thursday.
"We're not ruling anything out. We can't rule anything in at this point," Spangler said about the investigation. "Nothing is stepping out to us to say that there is some predator out there. ... We just don't know yet."
The boy had attended an assembly at the Not Your Ordinary School campus and asked to be excused to go the bathroom. He was found as the assembly was ending; there was no surveillance camera in the area.
Police said the clothing hook was low enough that the boy might have gotten himself stuck, but they don't know how he ended up on it or how long he was hanging.
Police were interviewing students and staff members at the charter school, which enrolls students in pre-kindergarten through third grade and earned the highest possible rating from the state for the last school year.
A telephone message seeking comment from school administrators was not returned. A message on the school Web site said staff members are cooperating with the investigation.
"The safety of our students is our first priority. As information regarding this incident comes to light, we will determine what, if any, campus safety issues need to be addressed," the school said.
Investigators don't have any evidence the boy had been bullied in school, but it's still possible he was attacked, Spangler said.
Whether criminal charges could result remains unclear. If another student is found to have been involved, state criminal laws don't apply to children under 10, said LaRu Woody, Travis County assistant prosecutor.
Hideous story.
Hint, hint, hint.
Police: Student was Found Hanging on Coat Hook with Pants Down
Police say incident could be accidental
AUSTIN — Austin Police have confirmed that a 7-year-old boy found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest in the restroom of an Austin charter school Wednesday was indeed hanging on a coat hook with his pants down.
Police now say it is not out of the question that the boy accidentally hanged himself, but they will continues to investigate the incident at ‘Not Your Ordinary School’ on Kramer Ln. as suspicious until more details are found.
“It was not impossible for him to have gotten up there by himself,” says APD Lt. Mark Spangler. “The height of the hook was such that he could have placed himself there.”
Lt. Spangler also says say the boy’s pants could have also ended up around his ankles because they were too baggy. He says because the suspended position the boy was in, the pants may have just fallen. He adds that the criminal investigation will still continue.
Police also say they are ruling the possibility that a suspect or suspects in the case may be fellow students.
Police say a teacher found the student unconscious and not breathing in a restroom after staff members noticed he was missing. The student was at a school assembly when he asked permission to go to the restroom. Police say his homeroom teacher later noticed he was missing when the children returning to the classroom after the assembly. Police say it is not known at this time exactly how long he had been unaccounted for.
The child is now in critical condition at Dell Children’s Hospital. Police say the boy is still unconscious, and can not give a statement about what happened to him. Investigators say they have interviewed at least one student they consider a potential witness.
Counselors and psychologists are at the school Thursday day talking to parents and students about the incident. One Mother of a third-grader at NYOS, Meg Scott, says she met with the school psychologist because she thought it would be helpful.
“Before we filled our minds with all kinds of yucky stuff, I though it would be wise to meet with the psychologist,” Scott says.
Scott says her children have been attending NYOS for five years.
Like I said. This is messed up.
I really don’t want cameras in public bathrooms. Monitors yes. Cameras no.
Humans never run out of ways to abuse each other. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were an accident, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the other way.
They should check out older, larger students who have been held back from advancing to a higher grade level. Some of these kids have severe emotional problems, though, of course, not all of them do. But when they do have emotional problems, often it is the smaller children who are the targets and usually without provocation.
It happened to my nephew in a Roman Catholic private school and the agressor was two years older and had been permanently expelled by the local public school district. What this older kid found out too late was that my nephew had been in Kung-fu training for quite some time. Surprise! We pulled my nephew out of parochial school because HE WAS PUNISHED FOR DEFENDING HIMSELF!
It seems like the author brought it up as a sideways hint.
What about his pants being down - doesn’t sound like an accident to me.
Reading a few other stories and putting the snippets together, it looks like the police have a witness (implied that its a student) and that they are questioning other students — obviously tricky given their age.
But it looks like classic school bully-abuse, and taken beyond the limit. It’s the age, though, that is puzzling. The perps would be — what — 3rd graders? I’m having a hard time imagining that aspect.
It reads like there was some kind of assembly. There were probably bigger kids there too. The sad thing is, if this was a bully, he probably didn’t mean to hurt the kid. We see it as degrading but harmless on tv at times, esp the kid shows.
Hope things turn out ok for the little guy in the above article...
You’re lucky Elaine Benis never got her permanent record fixed :)
And pigs can fly. The police need to be taking a very close look at larger kids with a history of bullying.
My daughter defended herself and the school was going to give her a ticket with a fine of $200.00. They said new ZERO Tolerance policy. Soon after that, I pulled her from the high school and put her in home studies. No longer was I scared for her everyday that I dropped her off at that high school. Then to go home and worry myself sick over her safety.
Bull, bullies always mean to hurt smaller kids. They normally just limit the damage to a level that they think they can get away with.
I went to public school im the Chicago area.
Kids start joining gangs in 1st grade.
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