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A video that captured a teen being viciously stomped by other students at Patriot High School in Jurupa Valley has sparked widespread outrage online, with several people calling for the arrest of the group of teens involved in the incident.
On Wednesday, February 1, a student at Patriot High School was brutally beaten by a group of teens who repeatedly hit and kicked the 14-year-old while he helplessly lay on the ground. The incident apparently occurred at the school’s parking lot after class hours.
The video that captured the appalling incident has ignited a slew of reactions online, with one user commenting that "they belong in prison," a sentiment echoed by several netizens as well.
Social media users criticized authorities' response to Jurupa Valley school fight
As the video of the incident went viral, the mother of the 14-year-old freshman at Patriot High School, Jurupa Valley fight has demanded that authorities investigate the students responsible for the attack. While describing the incident to KTLA, Martha Payan, the mother of the victim, said that her son was mercilessly beaten on school grounds, noting that she was angry at the absence of school authorities at the scene to stop the attack.
Meanwhile, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department released a statement to KTLA defending the absence of school resource officers at the premises, saying that since the incident occurred after school hours, they were not present at the scene. However, several social media users criticized the lack of resource officers at the school, who are tasked with patrolling the area to avoid such violent incidents.
The teen's cousin was threatened with a knife after he attempted to stop the attack
Martha Payan said that her son’s cousin allegedly tried to break up the fight in the Jurupa valley school parking lot but was threatened with a knife by one of the attackers. Payan added that in the days leading up to the attack, the assailants threatened her son on social media over a petty dispute involving a girl.
The teen's mother also told the outlet that she believed the school authorities failed to protect her son:
“He’s helpless. It’s just heartbreaking. because I know that kids, my son, had to go through that with no staff or anyone to help while he was on the floor being stomped on.”
The teen’s father, Angel Payan, also censured the school for failing to call law enforcement after the incident took place. The victim's father, who reportedly drove his son to the hospital, said that the school staff failed to provide any medical assistance to his son, adding that they also did not alert the authorities in the aftermath.
While authorities have yet to disclose the identity of the attackers, Martha Payan told KTLA that she believes one of the attackers is a high school senior at a neighboring school in Jurupa valley and that the other two assailants are allegedly 18 or older.
