MESA, Ariz. — A brutal act of violence caught on camera.
Four high school students, two of them football players at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, were filmed attacking a 17-year-old at Mountain View Park in June.
A video of the incident provided by the victim's parents showed one of the football players sucker punching the victim, who then fell to the ground.
The video then shows the initial attacker start punching, kicking and even stomping the victim. Three other highschoolers are also seen punching and kicking the teenager as he is down on the ground.
It's hard for anybody to watch the brutal attack -- especially for Leah Kirk and Derrick Carlo, the victim's parents.
"They looked like they were trying to kill my son," Kirk said. "How many more blows would have been taken to kill my son or seriously injure him?"
That may have been the case if the four boys didn't stop. The parents said their son, who they asked us not to identify, is still recovering from his injuries that day.
The attack went on for about 20 seconds before the first suspect grabbed a phone from the victim's pocket, threw it on the ground and walked away. The victim was left laying on the ground.
“They didn't seem like they were ashamed at all,” Kirk said.
When their son got home, he was covered in cuts and bruises. While both parents wanted to call the police, their son didn't want to, believing the boys who attacked him would do it again.
"He just wanted to kind of just get over it and heal," Carlo said.
But the video was posted to Snapchat and shared with countless students, according to the Mesa Police Department. It was only a matter of time before the teens involved were recognized.
A few weeks later, a parent whose child attends Mountain View High School saw the video and reported it the school resource officer at Westwood High School, police said. The SRO did not recognize the students involved but wrote a report which led to a Mesa police investigation.
An officer was able to contact Kirk and Carlo about the incident and they agreed to press charges.
Investigators reportedly spoke with one of the student on Aug. 15, who identified the other three. Police filed for charges against all four teens that same day.
One of them is facing aggravated assault charges.
Both parents were thankful for MPD's involvement, hoping justice will be done for their son. However, they still can't believe this happened in the first place.
“I just don't know how somebody can look at themselves after doing something like that," Kirk said.
On Monday, Red Mountain administration was made aware of the charges filed against two of its student-athletes, a spokesperson with the school told 12News.
As of now, the spokesperson said both are "being addressed appropriately" by district administration and the athletic code of conduct.
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