A football player for Frederick Douglass High School has been charged with attempted murder after a brutal attack on his teammate.
The attack was captured on video and showed the teen repeatedly punching his victim in the face and head and then stomping on the victim’s head. The crowd was dispersed, and the victim “was having a seizure while lying in a pool of his own blood.” After the attack, the victim was hospitalized and will require surgery. However, he was reported to be in stable condition on Thursday.
The assault took place on Wednesday, and by Thursday, the video had gone viral, though school officials insisted that things were under control.
“It was business as usual at Douglass High School today because the children are very resilient,” said Karl Perry, chief of school support for the district. “It was a very calm day, and we remained on course.”
Over a dozen police officers as well as a helicopter arrived at the school in order to supervise the dismissal from the school on Thursday, and after school activities on Friday were suspended as well.
“Douglass is full of some amazing, very talented and smart children, and unfortunately they’ve gotten a bad [reputation],” said City Councilman Nick Mosby. “If folks really rallied around our children, they will be great. When we see incidents like this — I just hope it doesn’t prevent folks from continuing to reach out to them.”
Police identified the 17-year-old aggressor as Sean Johnson. On Friday, bail was denied for Johnson. His lawyer, Landon White believes if video of the beating hadn’t gone viral, charges would be far less serious. White also shed light on his client’s defense in a recent interview.
You can check out the clip here.