TAKOMA PARK, Md. — Parents prayed when they heard a 2-year old boy fell out of an 11th story window at the Park Ritchie apartments in Takoma Park Monday afternoon.
He was seriously hurt but survived by falling into bushes and ivy just inches from a concrete curb in the 7600 block of Maple Avenue.
“I was scared, too because you never know, the kids, they always want to see outside,” said Fatima Hamissou, a resident.
She has had some close calls herself. Hamissou lives in the building with her 10-year-old who has come dangerously close to a damaged window screen.
“We always look out the window, but my mom tells me not because the management people took a long time to fix it,” explained Hamissou's daughter, Marian. "It was really ripped and your leg can fit through it.”
In fact, we spotted another torn window screen just floors below where the little boy lived.
Police don’t know exactly how the toddler fell or the condition of the windows in his 11th floor apartment, but advise parents to keep their kids away from open windows.
The toddler was transported to Children Hospital where he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
“Kids are resilient,” said Takoma Park Police Captain Daniel Frishkorn. "Hopefully he’ll improve and his condition won’t worsen.
“Park Ritchie needs to do something about these windows,” said another mom. “What can we do to prevent this from happening again? That’s the question now.
WUSA9 called Southern Management Corporation about the condition of the windows and those torn screens in need of repair. We are still waiting to hear back.