Shocking surveillance footage from a Cincinnati school shows an 8-year-old boy apparently being pulled headfirst into a restroom wall by a bully — and his classmates kicking and prodding his motionless body.
The boy, Gabriel Taye, committed suicide at his home two days later, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The boy’s mother has accused the school of covering up the Jan. 24 attack. School officials originally claimed Gabriel fainted, attorney Carla Leader told the Associated Press.
In the video, Gabriel is seen walking into a restroom at Carson Elementary School when he encounters another student. A detective investigating the case said it appears that the “primary agitator” had already hit one child in the stomach. Gabriel tries to shake the bully’s hand, but is yanked into the wall.
Gabriel lies motionless, his legs crumpled under him, as other students run away. Some stop and point at the 8-year-old, while others poke or nudge him with their feet. An adult also seemingly fails to notice the unconscious boy.
Gabriel doesn’t move for more than six minutes until an assistant principal finds him on the floor, according to the Enquirer.
When Gabriel’s mother picked him up from school, administrators didn’t tell her about the incident, attorney Jennifer Branch told the Enquirer.
Gabriel’s mother took him to the hospital later that evening after he vomited and complained of stomach pains. Doctors diagnosed him with a stomach virus and sent him home. No one knew what had happened earlier that day, her attorneys said.
Two days later, Gabriel came home from school, spoke with his mother and went into his bedroom. She later discovered him hanging from his bunk bed, according to Branch.
Gabriel’s mother only learned of the bullying incident after her attorneys got a copy of the police investigation into her son’s death.
Cincinnati Public Schools had originally refused to release the video after the Enquirer learned of its existence. But school officials made it public Friday to counter a detective’s claim that the children who surrounded Gabriel’s body were assaulting him, the Enquirer reported.
Police have finished investigating the incident and no charges were filed, according to Fox19.
“We ask that you review the video, it is entirety,” the school system wrote in a statement. “It is our firm position that the allegations portrayed in the media are not supported by the video.”
Cincinnati Public Schools said they are now “reviewing with faculty and staff the procedures regarding adult supervision in the restrooms.”
The local coroner has since reopened her investigation into the boy’s death.