Family of 6-Year-Old Drowning Victim Seeks Answers Amid Dual Investigations

The family of 6-year-old, Gabriel Pablo Orellano, is still grappling with the child’s death and questioning the circumstances leading up to the drowning.  The child, a student of Stella Maris School, wandered off the compound just before one o’clock in the afternoon and made his way to the Hangar area where he met his death.  It is an unfortunate series of events as when the child was seen walking alone on Wilson Street, an off-duty cop called in 911 to report the matter, but was shunned by her very own colleagues.  Tonight, there are two investigations underway, one by the Police and the other by the Ministry of Education.  Christy Almeida, Special Education Unit Coordinator, was on the compound shortly after the incident happened, probing into the circumstances.  She spoke with Love News today, but would not give any details into the investigation.  Rather, she noted that the ministry has provided a counselor for the teachers at the school and is also providing support for the family at this time. 

Christy Almeida, Special Ed Unit Coordinator, MOECST: “We are trying to support the family. We also feel for the entire Stella Maris community. Today we arranged for a counselor to be there for the teachers, parents will be getting a letter shortly from the management and the school and we are just making sure that we’re taking steps to try and make sure we are there supporting everybody as we go through such a tragic situation. We absolutely have to look into everything. You know there are procedures, the gates are closed, there’s always a guard there, parents can’t just walk in and out. We get complaints all the time because they want to drop off things, wardens are stationed around the fences, the cameras are there but something terribly terrible still happened. So we have to look at everything as a school, as a ministry , and I think as a nation we need to look at this as well.”

A part of the investigation, the ministry is questioning the existing safety protocols at Stella Maris School.  In the wake of such a tragedy, Almeida noted that there is a greater need for empathy and support from the public. She notes that many people saw Orellano on his way to the water and even reported it when he began removing his clothes to jump in.

Christy Almeida, Special Ed Unit Coordinator, MOECST: “As a school, as a ministry we are obviously spending from yesterday very late into the night, very early in the morning we are already looking at things because obviously we have to take even stronger steps to support our kids and that has to start now. And so our timeline is accelerated. This is the focus, we are going to we have to drop some other things and make this really look at this and see okay what could we possibly do ? We have x number of wardens around what do we have to do ? Are we talking GPS tackers? What are we talking about and I don’t know yet, I don’t have the answers yet but these are conversations that have to happen. Many saw as the teachers were running up and down, many saw so people reported seeing him stripping off his clothes, people reported seeing him jumping in the sea, people saw. Why as a community right ? Again this is a tragic time, we need to support the families, we need to support the school but we also have to take a deep look into our own things and go ‘why?’ And there is enough I think for all of us to feel sad and be introspective and to look and say ‘could we all have done more?’.
       

The child’s father, Vidal Orellano, noted that he had heard of the incident but when he went to the school to find out what happened, no one wanted to give him a report.  We will have more on this developing story in tomorrow’s newscast.