GILBERT, Ariz. — The Gilbert Police Department has reopened four criminal cases involving teen assaults in the wake of Preston Lord's death in Queen Creek.
Lord, 16, was assaulted and killed outside of a Halloween party on October 28. No arrests have been made.
Lord's death has brought several other East Valley assaults to light where groups of suspects have ganged up on one victim and beat them up. Many of the assaults are recorded, often by the suspects, and shared on social media.
Videos of some of these incidents have been circulating among East Valley community groups.
One of the groups linked to some of the incidents is known as the "Gilbert Goons."
A Gilbert PD spokesperson told 12News initially, they did not have any cases where the victims or suspects referred to the "Gilbert Goons", however recent updates from victims now refer to their assailants as being associated with the group.
"We are actively reviewing our assault cases involving youth to see if there is any additional information or correlation between these incidents that can assist us with our past investigations," said Brenda Carrasco, a public information officer with Gilbert PD.
'He even had footprints on his shirt where they were stomping him.'
One of Gilbert PD's active teen assault cases involves Richard Kuehner's son.
“It’s very disturbing," Kuehner said.
Kuehner's son transferred to Perry High School earlier this year. It didn't take long for him to start receiving threats from a group of other teens.
Right away, Kuehner went to school administrators to report the threats, even asking for a meeting with the other teens' parents.
He was concerned the threats would become physical.
Kuehner said that meeting was denied.
12News asked the Chandler Unified School District what was done after Kuehner reported the threats to school administrators. A spokesperson referred 12News police and sent the following response:
"Chandler Unified works closely with law enforcement in Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek to ensure the safety and welfare of our students. You are encouraged to reach out to the appropriate law enforcement agency if you have not already done so."
“I said it’s not a matter of if it happens, it’s a matter of when," Kuehner said.
Kuehner said the teens then showed up at his home when he was taking their dog out for a walk. He called Gilbert PD. When police arrived, Kuehner worked with police to comb through his son's social media to try to get to the bottom of why he was being singled out.
They could not find any evidence of prior conflict. His son was a seemingly random target.
“I never heard anything back on that, even giving them that information," Kuehner said.
Then, on August 18, their fears became reality.
Kuehner's son went to the Gilbert In-N-Out and was jumped in the parking lot, left to fend for himself as the group of suspects punched and kicked him repeatedly while he was on the ground.
He fled the area after the suspects stole his shoes.
“When I saw him, he was bleeding all over the place. He even had footprints on his shirt where they were stomping him," Kuehner said. “He needed to go the ER so I took him over to the emergency room because he did have a lot of bruises on his head because they tackled him and he hit his head on the ground.”
Kuehner reported the attack to police, but the threats continued. Kuehner was forced to make a difficult choice.
“His mother lives overseas and it was a hard decision for me but I felt it was the safest thing for him to do so I flew him out of the country and he’s overseas now," Kuehner said.
The attack was recorded and video shows what happened, however, four months later, no arrests have been made.
Last week, Kuehner learned his son's case was assigned to a detective and was being reopened.
He said many victims and their families are scared to speak out due to threats of retaliation so he is sharing his family's story, hoping the violence stops.
"We've got to stand up and we've got to squash this. And there's got to be consequences," Kuehner said. "I think they keep doing this because there haven't been any consequences."
Parents not letting children cooperate in Preston Lord investigation, police say
Kuehner's son's assault happened just two months before Lord's. It's unclear if any of the teens responsible for his son's attack were present when Lord was killed.
On Thursday, Queen Creek's police chief, Randy Brice, provided an update on the investigation.
"I understand that it is incredibly frustrating for the public that there has not yet been an arrest. To secure a conviction, the County Attorney must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt - social media posts are not enough - they must be authenticated and corroborated," Brice said in a statement.
Queen Creek PD has conducted numerous interviews and issued several search warrants.
Brice, however, said not everyone is cooperating.
"I want to thank those parents and children that have come forward to provide information or details related to this case. However, some parents have actively refused to let their children participate in the investigation. We need people to come forward and stand up for Preston," Brice said.
Brice said police have increased patrols in areas where teens are known to congregate as the community waits for arrests.
If anyone has any information, including photos or videos, police ask that you submit them here: https://p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=952#
Youth mental health advocate provides advice for parents
Katey McPherson is a youth mental health advocate and is also a mom in the East Valley.
"I think the public needs to know there's not just one group of four or five. We're talking 20, 30 deep and this style is a thing. It's a trend," McPherson said.
She says social media is playing a large role in this disturbing and violent trend.
"The viral humiliation is a piece of what they really enjoy. It's to truly not only attack you physically, but really, mentally and emotionally humiliate you, and continue to humiliate you."
McPherson said it's critical that parents stay present in their child's life and familiarize themselves with the social media platforms they are using.
"If you're giving TikTok and Snapchat, then you better have TikTok and Snapchat. If you don't know how they work, then you're not being responsible," McPherson said. "All of this could be mitigated by companies that care about our kids. Companies that allow nudity, profanity, fentanyl, trafficking, don't care about our kids."
McPherson believes preventing this type of violence is a community-wide effort that starts with parents and continues to school officials and law enforcement.
"There's always a runway to violence, there's always a runway to suicide. And those warning signs are very similar. Boys typically go inward with their pain, but when they're very upset, they get rageful. And I think sometimes that's misread," McPherson explained. "In this case, they are signaling for help, they are calling for help and those signals are not just after hours at a bonfire or at In-N-Out. Those signals are happening during the school day."
RELATED: Queen Creek community walks for justice one month after deadly attack of 16-year-old Preston Lord
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