Parents were left outraged after school officials did not report a knife-point hold up in the bathroom of a Queens junior high school. The New York Post reported that a knife-wielding intruder slipped inside the school's bathroom at some point and held an 11-year-old boy on knife-point. The suspect, whose identity is not known at the moment, is still at large.
According to police, the horrifying incident took place at Robert A. Van Wyck Junior High School, in Briarwood, NY, during afternoon dismissal on December 1. No harm or injury to the victim was reported during the incident. A parent whose kid attends the same school fumed over the fact that the parents were not informed about the incident. "Why did we get no phone calls about it? My son is afraid. That could have been him!" he said.
The parent alleged that he found out about the incident at the school only after watching news reports. He said that the school officials only confirmed the incident after he asked them about it on Tuesday, December 7. He said that the way the school handled the matter was wrong and that they should have informed the parents about the incident.
According to police, the suspect was described as a 5-foot-2, 110-pound male, who appeared to be in his teens. He is said to have entered the school through a cafeteria entrance while security guards were not paying attention, went to a bathroom, and held a boy on knife-point.
The intruder demanded money
The intruder is said to have demanded money from the boy which he didn't have, seized his water bottle, and threatened to kill him before running out of the building, police said. On the day of the incident, there was only one supervisor and three safety agents at the school. A school security source told The Post that the safety agents were outside the school making sure 'there were no fights, no drama' during the afternoon dismissal. The source informed that the intruder 'walked past the school aide' at the cafeteria door.
The school tried to 'hush' the incident
A school bus driver noted that the school went on lockdown for five days post the incident, but they were not aware of what caused the lockdown until they read about it in the newspapers. They also noted that the school didn't even circulate the police sketch of the suspect, which was shared by the NYPD.
The suspect had another altercation with a store owner
According to police, the suspect, after fleeing the school, encountered Prideal Singh, owner of Best Market & Deli on 85th Avenue and Parsons Blvd. Singh described him to be in his 20s and noted that he appeared to be 'high'. The suspect even had a brief altercation with Singh when asked to produce his id to buy beer.
The store owner said the man spit on him after he asked for his id and tried to run away with the scanner. When the owner tried to get hold of him, he knocked over a box of croissants and ran outside the store. "He asked me to come outside and had a hand in his jacket, I didn't see a knife but I held the door and he eventually left," the store owner said.
