PCTI student attempted suicide on 11th Avenue

Police & Fire

May 8, 2013 by P.T.

The teenager, who jumped off a 7-story building located on 11th Avenue, has been identified, presumably to be a junior of Passaic County Technical Institute.

Classmates of the 16-year-old at the high school suspect he was bullied; some of the junior at the schools have speculated that the bullying likely pushed the young man into attempting to take his own life on Tuesday.

Parents of the high school students have been informed of the suicide attempt, and were told that further information will be provided as it comes out.

Teachers and faculty at the Passaic County Technical Institute held an emergency meeting after school today to discuss and find an appropriate response to the incident.

The student who attempted to take his own life remains in critical condition at a local hospital. As of this morning, Thursday, May 9th, 2013, the student is still in critical condition at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, according to Paterson Police.

Updated: May 9th, 2013, 10am.

Azimi

Rest In Peace.
- Ilovemyson
  
  He didn't die and I pray to God he doesn't. The wrong kid is in the hospital..It should be the ones that were bullying him!!!
  - Alysarah
    
    yes he did. 7:12am
Ilovemyson

My son goes to this school and God forbid I EVER found out he was bullied. It's not the Administration those kids would need to worry about…IT WOULD BE ME!!! I pray to God the kids who did this bullying are prosecuted to the fullest extent and the parents for raising kids like that!!
- Friend_of_PCTI
  
  Ilovemyson,
  
  While I commend your parental instincts, I think what you typed was a heat of the moment thought.
  
  I would hope, as a good and caring parent that you take this opportunity and situation to discuss this situation with your child and explain that if they ever felt threatened that it is OK to go to campus security or administration.
  
  PCTI does a VERY GOOD job of ensuring the safety of the children while on campus. They have a staffed security team made up of mostly ex-cops/military.
Ilovemyson

My son goes to this school and GOD FORBID he is every bullied. It wouldn't be the law or school administration they would have to worry about; IT WOULD BE ME THEY NEEDED TO WORRY ABOUT. This is an amazing school and ONLY deserving children should be attending there and apparently these bullies are wasting space for others and they better be prosecuted to the FULLEST extent. The parents should be ashamed and also prosecuted for raising bullies!!!!!
- andrew
  
  It is very sad indeed, but there is no need to play the blame game and judge the parents of the bullies so harshly. Parenting can most definitely influence a child's social disposition–no doubt about that–but you cannot hold them 100% responsible and say they "raised bullies". There are many other factors that can contribute to a child's personality and how they relate to others. It's a baseless assumption, stemming from the need to find sense in a senseless situation, such as this. This is a tragedy; parents need to be informed and aware about bullying and it's connotations, but not trashed because of some idea that they are solely responsible for the way there kids turned out. Everything in this world is circumstantial and a matter of perspective, remember that.
  
  Aside from that, my thoughts and prayers go to the young man and his family. Terrible stuff.
Anna Mendez

My son goes to PCTI and I can say it is a great school , there is always a handful that will ruin the school or hurt someone , in a previous comment they should only let the kids that deserve to be there with good morals attend . May he overcome his injuries we will pray for him and his family. My son came home and said it was a very sad day in school re this young man ..
MotherOfPCTIstudents

Dear God I pray for this poor child's family & for his soul…it's sad to hear he has passed away this evening. May he be at peace and God embrace him into his kingdom.
Alysarah

I was one of his closest frineds. I was in his PCTI shop class for the last the years & I along with the rest of our shop probably spent the most time with him.He was the funniest, most humble, and outgoing kid there could be. I would love to inform you that his death WAS NOT DUE TO BULLYING according to his family and the police department. So I would highly appreciate it if the rumors about my close friend would come to an END. Thank you.
P.S. don't overstress his tweet about Pokemon; we were joking about it the day before he tweeted that.
-Alysarah DeJesus
- Friend_of_PCTI
  
  If what the above poster (alysarah) posted is indeed accurate about this being a non-bully suicide attempt/death then Shame on this publication on citing it as such.
  
  I feel the word bully is overused and overplayed by the media, but because bullying is the hot topic the second a kid has a personal crisis that no one knows about it must have had something to do with bullying. It has got to the point that it is the first thing people think about when it comes to when a child does this because it is what the media has instilled in us.
  
  I take it from the comments posted above that even this young man's close friends did not see this coming.
  
  In this react first, think later, instant gratification society people have forgotten how to take a deep breath and actually gather facts before coming to a conclusion, and that is a major downfall in our society today.
AHeisinger

Rest in Peace young man.

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