The brutal beat down of a 14-year-old — which also involved a knife — outside a California high school has angered his parents, who claim officials are downplaying the vicious attack.
The video shows at least three teens stomping on the head of and kicking the teenage freshman boy outside Patriot High School in Jurupa Valley, Calif. as school ended on Feb. 1.
When the boy’s cousin attempted to help, one of the attackers threatened him with a knife, the shocking video obtained by KTLA showed.
Martha Payan, the mother of the boy who was attacked, said she was heartbroken when she saw her son repeatedly take blows to his head and body, with no school staff stepping in to intervene or stop the fight.
“They’re stomping on his head, my son is on the floor in a fetal position,” Payan told KTLA. “I see a couple of students… his cousin is trying to get involved to try to separate and they won’t allow him to. One of the individuals comes to him with a knife and tells him if he comes close, then he’s going to get it too.”
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department officials released a statement saying: “The incident was reported after school hours. Therefore, no school resource officers were on campus. It is currently being investigated.”
Angel Payan, the boy’s father, said his son had been threatened by the group before. He told the LA Times the incident was spurred by a dispute related to a social media post his son made about his ex-girlfriend.
Angel Payan said his son then began receiving threats on Instagram from people who were not students at the high school.
School officials did not alert other parents about the fight until almost a week after the incident when the video started to go viral.
The Jurupa Unified School District sent an email to parents, which said: “You may have seen reports about an incident that took place after school in the parking lot at Patriot High School last week. We want to assure you that student safety is our highest priority, and we are cooperating with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to fully investigate this matter.”
Angel told the LA Times his son “looked like a cranberry” from his injuries but is now back in school. He said his son, who is a varsity football player, is still shaken.
“He is somewhat scared,” the father said. “He’s a very tough kid.”
Martha also said the assailants were older that her son, with her believing at least one to be 18 years or more and that they attended a different school to her son.
The incident at the California high school happened around the same time another vicious fight was caught on video of a 9-year old Florida girl being mercilessly beaten by two boys aboard a school bus.
No adults intervened in the 30 seconds caught on camera as two boys pummeled the young girl. Authorities later announced they are bringing battery charges against one 15-year-old boy believed to be in the video.
