A gang of youths ages 11 to 14 were caught on cellphone video last week mercilessly pummeling a lone victim on a street corner in Towson, Maryland.
Nine juveniles have been identified, and second-degree assault charges are pending against five of them after Baltimore County police officers responded to the incident, WBFF-TV reported.
‘You can see the kids are laughing. … They just don’t care, because no one is going to hold them accountable.’
Police said officers were called around 3:40 p.m. April 20 to the unit block of Lambourne Road for a “physical disturbance,” the station reported.
Police said it’s believed the incident stems from a verbal altercation in school and that the juveniles involved — who range in age from 11 to 14 — know each other, WBFF said.
Two juveniles under the age of 13 will not be charged, police told the station, which added that none of the juveniles are in custody as officers are trying to notify their parents.
The incident drew attention after video recorded outside the Towson Promenade appeared to show a group of juveniles surrounding and beating one victim. You can view unredacted video of the broad-daylight beatdown here, which shows a gang of youths repeatedly punching, kicking, and stomping the victim.
More from WBFF:
A second incident happened Tuesday involving some of the same students inside Dumbarton Middle School during a meeting with the School Resource Officer, police said. During the meeting, a student and their parent left the office and got involved in a physical fight with another student in a hallway. The parent was later trespassed from the school, authorities said.
Police are working with Baltimore County Public Schools, which is conducting its own administrative investigation.
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The April 20 incident occurred across the street from Towson Diner, and owner Nick Kourtsounis told WBFF in a separate story he’s frustrated by what he sees as ongoing juvenile violence in the area.
“This looks like nine on one, is what it looks like,” Kourtsounis told the station while viewing video presumably showing the attack. “I don’t see how that’s just middle schoolers being middle schoolers. That is a learned behavior, and I don’t know how you unlearn that, but something has to be done.”
He added to WBFF, “Where’s the accountability? That’s what we want. We want accountability, we want action, and this stuff about, ‘Oh, it’s just kids being kids’ — no, it’s not.”
Baltimore County resident Mary Shanahan told the station, “I’m very fearful for my life because you never know what they have in their backpacks, what they have in their pockets, what they’re going to say to you.”
A retired Baltimore County Police sergeant told WBFF in another story that the youths involved simply don’t care about consequences.
“You can see the kids are laughing. They’re looking at the camera, they’re looking around, but they’re committing the crime,” Mickey Hoppert, who retired from the Baltimore County Police Department after 20 years of service as an officer, told the station. “They just don’t care, because no one is going to hold them accountable. And unfortunately, somebody has to hold them accountable.”
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