Statement by University Spokesman John Beckman on the Student Injured at 80 Lafayette Street

"NYU's Dept of Public Safety first received word of a missing student --a male undergraduate – about 12:30 am Sunday morning from students and immediately began a search, checking the student's room, reaching out to friends, checking area emergency rooms, checking local precincts, and checking on the NYU locations where his ID had most recently been used for entry, among other efforts.  Later on Sunday, possessions of his were found at our residence hall at 80 Lafayette St., and the Public Safety Dept's efforts were focused there.

"One of our Public Safety sergeants in the course of his search of the building extended his search to a narrow space between our building and an abutting garage, where he discovered someone wedged into the space and heard moaning.  The FDNY and the NYPD were immediately called; they responded and rescued the student.  Our understanding is that the student was conscious and able to communicate with rescuers throughout the rescue.  The student was transported to the hospital.

"The circumstances of how the student came to be in this space remain unclear to us.  We are very glad to say the least that student was found safe and mostly sound and was rescued, pleased that his condition was such that he was able to remain conscious and alert during the rescue, grateful to the FDNY and NYPD for their quick response and excellent work, proud of the student’s friends who reported him missing and were so concerned about him, and proud of our Public Safety officer for looking in what would have been an unlikely spot for a student to be.

"We believe that we can learn something from every incident, even ones that have a happy ending, and so our Public Safety Department will be reviewing what happened here with an eye towards what, if any, lessons should be incorporated for our response to missing person reports going forward.”