Authorities near Dallas-Fort Worth are investigating after a 13-year-old girl claimed a pair of adults attacked her on the bus at school, and officials did nothing to stop it.
Adding insult to injury, the eighth-grade girl said she was then suspended from school for three days after she did everything she could to avoid the fight before she was jumped on her bus by two grownups who arrived to defend another student who had beef with her.
Police in Denton are investigating the April 23 incident that began at Bettye Myers Middle School, where the student claims she was ambushed on the bus by two adults she did not know.
The victim, whose name is being withheld because of her age, told authorities that she heard rumors throughout the day that a new girl at the school wanted to fight her.
Later, as school was letting out, the two girls finally crossed paths, leading to a confrontation on the bus ramp.
“She said if I didn’t keep her name out of my mouth, then she was going to beat me up,” the girl told CBS Texas, which withheld the names of both minors.
Despite the increasing threat she faced, the targeted girl refused to fight and proceeded to get on the bus, where the other girl followed and challenged her to step back off, but again she resisted.
“I was scared,” the girl told the station afterward, still emotional about the incident.
Within a moment, the girls were throwing blows in the middle of the bus.
During the chaos, the girl who tried to walk away said she was stunned to hear the other girl cry out to her mom for help, which led her to realize this wasn’t going to be a one-on-one affair.
She explained later that she felt forced to defend herself as two additional assailants joined the fracas, pummeling her while other students recorded the attack for consumption on social media.
“I was wishing I had my mama because nobody helped me,” she told the outlet.
The young victim said one of her attackers came up from behind and put her in a chokehold.
The trio of attackers got off the bus as it was preparing to leave school grounds, but then they got into their own vehicle and followed it to the girl’s bus stop, where she was attacked again.
Video footage of the moment shows the 13-year-old girl on the ground, screaming.
During the melee, the girl said she managed to call her mom.
“And I heard my baby scream out,” the girl’s mother told the station, noting that the bus driver stood by and took no action during the violent episode, then drove away as the affray continued outside. “No one did anything,” she said.
“Had he locked the door, called for help, waited for the police to arrive, those grown adults wouldn’t have been able to get on a bus, assault my child, and they wouldn’t been able to follow the bus and continue assaulting her,” she said, adding that “he just drove off” as her daughter was being beaten at the bus stop.
Earlier in the day, the girl said she reported the threats she received to the school’s assistant principal and a counselor, who reportedly spoke to the girl but did little if anything else to prevent the matter from escalating.
Following the episode, the girl blamed the ordeal on school officials, saying they failed to protect her.
“I didn’t deserve it,” the girl said. “I don’t think no kid deserves to go through anything like that.”
She also had stern words for the adults who jumped her.
“I have to wake up every morning knowing that a grown adult put their hands on me. I can’t walk to the store anymore. I have to look and watch every time when I see a white car … and I have to be on watch everywhere I go. Because of you.”
The girl’s mother shared similar sentiments, saying district officials needed to “do better” to protect children at school.
“I feel like Denton ISD failed my child. I could be a parent planning funeral arrangements if they would have had a weapon and got on a bus with a knife or a gun,” she said. “If a child is reaching out to you, is telling you someone is bothering them, and they try to avoid the situation, do better, and help them.”
Denton school officials stated they could not discuss student discipline due to privacy laws but confirmed that the student who instigated the brawl would not be returning to the campus.
In a statement to CBS Texas, the district condemned the adults’ actions and explained that the driver called his dispatchers immediately about the incident.
“This horrible video depicts unacceptable conduct Denton ISD never condones, including an adult unlawfully boarding a school bus … Per district policy, the driver immediately called dispatch and requested law enforcement. Drivers are not authorized to use their personal cell phones while on the bus to ensure safety. Police responded to this incident, and this is currently an ongoing, active investigation by the Denton Police Department centered around an adult unlawfully boarding the bus and injuring a child.”
The district is seeking criminal trespass warnings against the adults involved, indicating they will no longer be permitted on any school property.
It was the latest in a series of nationwide incidents where a group of adults showed up at a school with the purpose of ganging up on a hapless student in defense of family members.
In late April, a 13-year-old girl in Yonkers, New York, was attacked at school by a group of parents defending a relative, also a student — leading to a harrowing brawl and a potential $40 million lawsuit.
