School officials violated their own protocols and looked the other way when autistic student Avonte Oquendo waltzed past a security desk and walked out of his Queens school, New York City investigators charged Thursday.
The 14-year-old nonverbal student was able to dodge past several layers of security when he disappeared Oct. 4 — including a school safety agent who saw Avonte head for an exit door but was distracted by another student, according to the damning report.
Staff members at Riverview School in Long Island City also ignored a warning from Avonte’s mother that he was a flight risk.
“Safety concerns — please make sure you keep an eye out he likes to run. Need 1 [on] 1 supervision will leave the building,” Vanessa Oquendo wrote to her son’s teacher, who did not share the important information with other administrators, according to investigators.
In another glaring case of negligence, the principal of the building, Edgar Rodriguez, refused to call for a soft lockdown to search the school.
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Still image from a security camera of Avonte Oquendo on Oct. 4.
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Still image from a security camera of Avonte Oquendo on Oct. 4.
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These still shots from Oct. 4 security camera footage show Avonte Oquendo as he escaped Riverview School in Long Island City, Queens.
“According to Rodriguez, he did not implement a soft lockdown on October 4, 2013, because he needed more information to assess the situation,” the report stated.
A teacher had also asked Rodriguez to view school cameras to determine Avonte’s whereabouts, but claimed the principal responded that he did not have a password for the video system.
When Rodriguez, realizing the police were involved, finally called for a hard lockdown — shutting the school down because of an “imminent danger” — it was too late.
Avonte had already fled, and a massive monthslong search throughout the city only produced false hope and more heartache for his family.
His badly decomposed body was found three months later, washed up on a Queens beach.
Avonte’s family filed a $25 million notice of claim against the city Oct. 9. School officials have vowed to overhaul the way they keep track of the city’s special-needs children in the wake of his death.
Investigators referred their findings to the Education Department as well as to Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown to determine any disciplinary action.
