Atlanta Public Schools on Thursday released a statement disputing the Atlanta Police Department’s timeline of events after a man allegedly tried to abduct an 8-year-old as she played outside Deerwood Elementary School.
Authorities are investigating after the child said a stranger choked her, pointed a gun in her face and tried to kidnap her Monday afternoon during recess.
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Atlanta police previously said it took school officials hours to notify them of the incident, costing them precious time in their search for a suspect.
“Once we learned about it, the department immediately began mobilizing resources to assist Atlanta Public Schools Police,” APD spokesman Carlos Campos said. “We are disappointed, however, to have been notified about the incident late Monday by APS more than four hours after it took place.”
Campos said the incident on the playground occurred about 1:40 p.m. and that APD didn’t hear about until just before 6 p.m.
“We believe there were numerous measures that should have been taken during that time period to protect children in the area from further incidents and to immediately launch a search for the suspect,” he said.
In a statement sent out Thursday, however, school district spokesman Ian Smith disputed that timeline, saying school police learned of the incident at 1:36 p.m and immediately sent resource officers to the scene.
Ten minutes later, school officials notified APD’s dispatch, Smith said, “not four to six hours later as has been erroneously reported.”
Asked about the discrepancy, Campos acknowledged that school police called dispatch after the incident, but doubled down by saying they should have done more.
“The idea that the Atlanta Public Schools Police Department believes that a single phone call placed to a dispatch desk suffices as ‘notice’ of a serious assault against a child is laughable at best, or poor police work, at worst,” he said. “Reaching out to the local zone commander more than four hours after the incident was grossly inadequate for us to mobilize our resources for immediate assistance. We suggest strongly they take a hard look at their protocols when it concerns child safety.”
Campos said it would have been best for school police to contact APD’s zone commander immediately since she could get resources to the area sooner.
In the meantime, no arrests have been made in the case as authorities continue their search for a suspect.
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