Police are investigating the alleged attempted abduction of an 8-year-old girl outside her Bronx elementary school Thursday morning, the Department of Education said.
The DOE said in a statement that an unknown man approached the third-grade student near the stairs to P.S. 33, which educates about 1,000 students in pre-K through fifth grade and is located in the borough's Fordham section.
Sources familiar with the investigation tell NBC 4 New York the girl told police the man said, "Why don't you come with me?" and then tried to grab her.
She ran away from the strange man and into the Jerome Avenue school, the DOE said.
The girl told the principal about the encounter and the principal called police and the child's parent.
The DOE said the child is with her parent.
