A student was beaten at a park near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on December 12 and several arrests have been made in the case, according to reports.
Coral Springs law enforcement said five teenagers are facing felony battery charges in the case and all of the suspects except one have been taken into custody, NBC Miami reported Friday.
Officials noted the suspects’ ages range from 15 to 17 years old.
Images show four of the suspects in the case:
“Four of the students attend Stoneman Douglas, while the fifth attends Coral Glades High School,” the report said.
The incident occurred in a parking lot at North Community Park in Coral Springs. Video footage shows what appears to be young man in a blue shirt being slammed onto the pavement as a mob surrounds him.
A few seconds later, the crowd appears to back off and two individuals approach the victim as he lays motionless on the ground. The pair then begin turning him onto his back.
“All I could think is these people are animals,” one young man told WPLG. Following the incident, the victim was taken to a hospital and authorities said he is expected to recover.
“According to arrest reports, one of the suspects had walked up to the teen and punched him in the face, then ‘incited several other males who then joined in on the attack,'” the NBC article said.
Now, Coral Springs Police are working to identify a sixth suspect in the case, NBC Miami reported Tuesday.
“If anyone has any information on the identity of this individual, please contact Detective James Kaban at jkaban@coralsprings.gov or 954-346-1229,” police wrote in a social media post:
According to detectives working the case, the victim claimed the suspects had been harassing him for several days and had asked other students to walk alongside him in the area so he would not be targeted.
The New York Post noted that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is “the site of one of the nation’s worst mass shootings.”