A 5-year-old student at a Florida elementary school died on Wednesday after a 120-pound video display board fell on him in his classroom, the school district said.
Bellamy Dawkins-Morris was seriously injured when a digital board fell on him just after 11:30 a.m. at Riviera Elementary School in Palm Bay, about 70 miles southeast of Orlando, the Palm Bay Police Department said. School staff members called 911 and administered first aid until emergency responders arrived, law enforcement officials said, but Bellamy died after being transported to a hospital.
Brevard Public Schools, the school district, said in a statement on Thursday that the large video display had been mounted on a wall by a licensed third-party vendor in accordance with manufacturer guidelines. The board was made by Promethean, an education technology company, and the district said all of its boards made by the company were being inspected.
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority,” Dr. Mark Rendell, the superintendent for Brevard Public Schools, said in the statement. “We will continue to work closely with law enforcement, take appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of our school communities, and provide additional information when it becomes available and appropriate to share.”
Promethean said in a statement that it was also investigating the incident.
Family members told the local TV news station WESH 2, an NBC affiliate, that Bellamy had been moving the display board back and forth while other students were lining up when it tipped over and fell on him. The family told the local news network that Bellamy was autistic.
“When he sees things in motion, he’s going to keep pushing it to keep it in motion; that’s just something that children on the spectrum do,” Miriam Rodriguez, Bellamy’s great-aunt, told WESH 2. “Obviously, the monitor was not secure, and that’s a huge issue. That could have been anybody’s child.”
The Palm Bay Police Department said its special victims unit was investigating the incident.
Dr. Rendell, the superintendent, said at a news conference on Wednesday that he had met with Bellamy’s family shortly after the child’s death.
“We lost a life today, a precious young life. There are no words to describe that loss,” Dr. Rendell said. “I’ve been doing this for over 30 years, and I really couldn’t find the words to share with them my grief and the grief that all of us have.”
Promethean displays are used in classrooms around the world, sometimes in lieu of traditional blackboards. The interactive panels display lesson plans and have touch-screen features.
“All of us at Promethean are heartbroken by the death of a child in the tragic accident at Riviera Elementary School,” a spokesman for Promethean said in a statement. “Nothing matters more to us than the safety of the students and teachers who use our products every day.”
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