12 March 2024 , 17:54
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What began as a typical Thursday afternoon for a Texas mother turned into her worst nightmare when she went to pick her son up from school and couldn't find him.
Like clockwork, LaTissue Wallace goes to Eastern Hills Elementary School in Fort Worth every weekday to pick up her 7-year-old son Junior and his cousin in the early afternoon. But on Thursday, Junior's cousin came out, and he didn't.
"This particular time, they only brought her out," LaTissue explained to NBC5. "So, after waiting, I went back to the door, and I was like, 'Where is Junior?' And they were like, 'We're waiting, we're calling for him'."
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Junior was slumped over in his chair, fast asleep, when his mother and administrators found him (NBC 5)
Junior had been in the classroom for over 30 minutes by the time it was unlocked (NBC 5)As time went on, however, Junior still didn't come out. Several minutes later, she saw her son's teacher and asked them where Junior was. She was reportedly told that he had run off ahead of the rest of the class at dismissal. But if that were the case, he would be outside with her and his cousin, Wallace thought.
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"So, at this point, I'm like, 'I need to go find him,'" she said. "So, I went up and down the stairs." When she reached her son's classroom, she peered inside and reportedly saw his backpack and lunchbox.
A furious Texas mum has called out her son's school district after the 7-year-old was found locked in his classroom (NBC 5)She became frantic and raced to find someone who could open the classroom for her. She contacted the assistant principal, who called a janitor. Then, they both waited. And waited. And waited.
After about 30 minutes, she began recording the incident on her phone. Finally, after waiting for what felt like forever, an administrator came and unlocked the door. Inside, they found Junior, fast asleep at a desk.
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Wallace recorded the incident and detailed how it took administrators about a half an hour to come unlock the classroom (NBC 5)The video was shared with local news. It shows Wallace walking through the halls of the school, eventually arriving at her son's classroom with an administrator, who had the keys necessary to unlock it.
Once inside, they looked around, and there, in the back, slumped over at his desk, was Junior, fast asleep, hanging off the chair. The administrator woke him up, and the boy went home with his mother.
The Fort Worth Independent School District released a statement about the incident, saying: "The Fort Worth ISD is aware of the video at issue, and we are conducting a thorough investigation into this isolated incident.
Wallace wants more, however. She wants accountability and staunch reassurance that nothing like what happened to her son will ever happen again. "He's 7 years old, so it was very scary," she said. "It was nothing to take two seconds to clear that room."