A 16-year-old boy died after he suffered a cardiac arrest when he was put into restraints at a Yonkers school that specializes in students with emotional and social difficulties.

The teenager, who has not been named, was restrained at Leake & Watts school when police were called at around 8:00pm local time Wednesday, the Journal News reported.

He suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. It was unclear why the boy was restrained.

Meredith Barber, director of institutional advancement at the Leake & Watts office in Yonkers, said the boy's family had been notified of his death.

She told the newspaper, "What I can say is that we're very deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our hearts go out to the boy's family."

Yonkers police Lt. James Murphy said, "Once we get there, if they're acting out and deemed emotionally disturbed -- if they don't go willfully... sometimes they'll have to be restrained. It looks like he was being restrained for reason 'A' and for some reason unknown, he went into cardiac arrest."

Officials at Leake & Watts were unavailable for comment.

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