Carlita Gorden was working at a neighboring salon when she heard screams after a brutal attack and robbery of a 15-year-old girl in Brooklyn, New York, around 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon. Gorden rushed to the scene on Utica Avenue near Sterling Place in Crown Heights, and what she saw upset her.
A girl lay on the pavement, and more than a dozen suspects had trodden on her. Gorden expressed that for so many kids to jump on one individual, it’s just ridiculous. She remembered how the girl was holding her book bag. No shoes, just sitting barefoot. Then you see the little one running away with her sneakers.
On the security footage of the incident, you can see how one person knocks the girl to the ground before more than a dozen other people join in and start trampling on her. The crowd grew in size in seconds as additional suspects swarmed on the victim, participating in the terrible thrashing.
Gorden remarked that it’s depressing. One must improve as a community and also as an individual. This young child might have died; it’s incredibly awful, and after watching the video of the suspects in the crowd trampling on her and kicking her, it’s difficult not to agree.
According to New York City police, five suspects, all juveniles, turned themselves in the next day. Armed with the video, authorities claimed they were looking for the other suspects in the savage gang attack. Officials suspect the assault was in reprisal for an earlier event, although they did not specify what that incident was.
The mob is seen on a video filmed from another location at the crossing as they begin to disperse after violently stomping the girl in the incident. Unfortunately, one suspect is seen on the video yanking the girl’s trainers right off her feet as she is crumpled on the pavement and bleeding. As the shoe thief flees, he is seen on video laughing and smiling.
The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment of bruises and swelling to her face and torso as a result of the severe stomping. Her phone and debit card were also taken, in addition to her shoes. The incident has understandably left the community frightened and terrified.
She didn’t need any trouble, Anita Peavy stated. The event happened in front of her electronics business, and she claims she swiftly removed the gate and stepped outside. She was afraid the kids would come in here and just go crazy like they were out there. She has never seen something like it in her life. It was insane to witness such a young child simply drop on one child.
Peavy, who is also a licensed nurse, said that the girl was gushing blood and that she had made an effort to help her after the crowd trampled her. They just kept her calm, and she sat there until the ambulance arrived.
Tony Herbert, a long-time community organizer, said the victim is his cousin, and the incident had far-reaching consequences that went beyond bodily harm. He stated that right now, she’s traumatized. She’s in a little discomfort. Her mother is just heartbroken right now to think that she sent her daughter to school only to find out that she was a victim of an attack in the city where she spent her entire life.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams decried the assault, but this isn’t a new issue in the neighborhood. In fact, before the event, the NYPD had just deployed more than 300 policemen to work as youth coordinators to clamp down on crimes, including those involving offenders under the age of 18, demonstrating that criminal situations involving juveniles, such as this one, are nothing new.
While teenagers are infamous for getting into mischief, this takes things to a whole new level. This is attempted murder and total disdain for another person’s life. That is not acceptable. Regardless of any previous incident, a crowd of over a dozen guys congregating on a single juvenile girl who didn’t have a chance and mercilessly trampling on her continuously is excessive, illegal, and, most importantly, heartless.
