Police in Jakarta say they believe somebody deliberately tossed a brick from a high-rise apartment in Kemayoran, North Jakarta on Sept. 8, which killed an 8-year-old boy, identified by his initials AW. However, almost two weeks into the investigation, they have yet to determine any possible suspects.
According to reports, AW was walking on the ground level adjacent to the 17-story apartment building with his two friends. Out of nowhere, witnesses say they saw a brick fall directly onto his head, causing traumatic injury.
AW’s mother said her son was still breathing when she arrived at the scene some time later, but regretted that no bystander was willing to call for medical assistance or take him to the hospital themselves. Instead, she said AW’s body was left lying on the floor with his head covered with a piece of cardboard. AW’s father arrived minutes after the mother and carried him to a nearby hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead upon arrival.
The Kemayoran Police say their investigation has been hindered by inadequate CCTV coverage in and around the scene, but they did come to the conclusion that the brick must have been deliberately tossed by somebody in the apartment building.
“There is no construction work above, so we can’t guess that. What’s certain is somebody must have tossed it,” Kemayoran Police Chief Saiful told reporters, as quoted by Kompas.
Residents of the apartment building seem to agree with the police’s initial assessment of the case as they too have previously seen heavy objects such as bricks and blocks of wood being tossed from the apartment building, though from which unit exactly is not known.
The building’s management says it has intensified security patrols around the area to uncover the culprit and prevent further fatal incidents.
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