Teen Boy Left Bloody After Being Lashed With Chain By 2 Men In Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK (CBSLA) – The brutal beating of a young teen boy by two men with a chain outside a Highland Park elementary school earlier this month was captured on cell phone video.

The violent assault occurred in broad daylight May 8 on a sidewalk just outside Monte Vista Elementary School, located at 5423 Monte Vista St.

Witnesses told CBS2 Wednesday that a young boy with backpack was jumped by two men in their 20s. The men asked him where he was from - a trademark of gang rivalry confrontations - before beating him with a chain, leaving him covered in blood, witnesses said. It's unclear if he was robbed.

"It was a two-on-one thing, they were both hitting him to the point where they knocked him to the floor and continued kicking him and beating him with a chain," said one woman, who did not want to be identified.

"Just between both of them they just started hitting him and hitting him until they got him to the floor, and they just kicked him and socked him and just wouldn't stop," another woman added.

One of the women says she begged the attackers to stop, telling them she was calling 911.

"He was soaked in blood, his whole face was just dripping of blood, nose, mouth, everywhere," one of the women said.

The witnesses told CBS2 it appeared the victim was coming from the direction Franklin High School nearby. He ran off following the attack.

They said the neighborhood has high rates of gang violence and they have seen several fights in the area. They said they did not file a police report because, with past fights, Los Angeles police officers told them there is not much that can be done if the victims don't stay and talk.

CBS2 reached out to Los Angeles Unified School District and the LAPD. However, it's unclear if the district or the police department was notified about the attack when it occurred.