Updated 4 p.m.: A student was seriously injured after falling from a third-floor window at Whitman High School Thursday morning, Suffolk County Police and school officials said.
He was airlifted for treatment to Stony Brook Hospital.
School superintendent Dr. David Bennardo said the boy's injuries were "self-inflicted," and that police had found a note the student left. Suffolk County police said the boy "appeared to have jumped," but didn't provide further details.
He was described only as a senior who was involved in theater productions.
Whitman students leaving the school Thursday afternoon said they were shocked. "No one knows why he would do this," one boy said.
Other students were being offered counseling. "As you can imagine, they're in need of a lot of support," Bennardo said of the school, including some teens who witnessed the boy go through the window of a science lab.
Bennardo said that the building had been placed on a modified lockdown while police were investigating, but that students were back to a near-normal schedule by mid-afternoon. After-school activities would go on as planned, he said.
"This is a young man we are all praying for," Bennardo said. He asked the media to not publish the boy's name to provide the family with privacy.
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The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m., at a point where students were changing classes. Bennardo said teachers were in and out of the room and that several students were milling about when the incident occurred.
That being said let's remember it's about this young man, his family and friends. Not about Joe somebody...