Parents are calling for action after video captured the brutal beating of a teen at a high school in Jurupa Valley.
The video shows a group of teens hitting and kicking another boy as he’s curled up on the ground.
“They’re stomping on his head, my son is on the floor in a fetal position,” the student’s mother, Martha Payan, said. “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.”
Payan said she was at work Wednesday when she got a call from another parent saying that her 14-year-old son, a freshman at Patriot High School in Jurupa Valley, had been beaten.
At one point in the video, three of her son’s attackers are seen hitting and kicking him all at the same time.
“He’s helpless. It’s just heartbreaking,” Payan said, “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 beating happened in the parking lot after school let out.
Payan says the attackers had previously threatened her son on social media over a dispute about a girl, and that she’s angry that no school staff or resource officers intervened.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department released a statement to KTLA about the incident that read in part:
“The incident was reported after school hours. Therefore, no school resource officers were on campus. It is currently being investigated.”
Angel Payan, the teen’s father, said he’s angry that no medical help was sought for his son. He said he rushed to the school and didn’t understand why officials had only called parents, but not 911.
The teen’s father took him to the hospital and learned from doctors that his son had a concussion.
“My son said that when they did one of the kicks, his face kind of slid on the concrete, so he has scratches all over his face,” the teen’s mom told KTLA.
Officials at the Jurupa Valley Unified School District said that they cannot comment on the case and referred KTLA back to law enforcement.
The victim’s parents said they want to see consequences for the others involved in the attack. Martha said she believes one of the attackers is a high school senior at a nearby school and the other two are 18 years old or older.
Authorities did not confirm the age of the attackers.