Seven Georgia students — some as young as 5 — were arrested for allegedly attacking their 7-year-old classmate during an early morning bus ride to school, according to police.
The alleged attackers, who range in age from 5 to 14, were slapped with battery charges for the vicious beatdown that erupted while their bus was en route to Mattie Lively Elementary School in Statesboro on April 18, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
Police said they were notified of the heinous assault roughly a week later and identified the troubled students after reviewing the transport’s security footage, which captured the unruly group teaming up to attack the young child, WSAV reported.
“One child came over the seat and basically used his feet to stomp on this 7-year-old,” Captain Todd Hutchens told the outlet, adding that it was a “violent attack.”
“Five-year-olds know right from wrong. They hold responsibility just like an adult, just like a 14-year-old. They know better than to start jumping on a child and striking that child with a hand or a first or a book or those types of things.”
The student only suffered some bruising as a result of the assault, WTOC reported.
The bus driver, Joey Edwin Jackson, 70, was also arrested when police discovered he failed to stop the violent rampage, pull the bus over — or report the incident to the school district.
“The bus driver did not pull over,” Hutchens said according to the outlet.
“The bus driver did not call the bus garage to say, ‘Hey I got an incident on the bus, please send help.’ He continued to drive to the school.”
Jackson was charged with second-degree cruelty to children and failure to report child abuse, police said, adding that he was also fired from his position.
He was booked at Bulloch County Jail on April 30 and was released the following day after posting a $15,000 bond, jail records showed.
The seven disruptive students were also suspended from their respective schools, police said.
Their cases will be handled in juvenile court.
“It’s not going to be tolerated in Bulloch County Schools,” Superintendent Charles Wilson told the outlet.
“One thing we know is, we owe it to everyone in the community that when your child comes to school, your child is going to be in a safe environment where they can be treated well and learn.”
