WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a 16-year-old boy after a savage attack on a fellow student on board a cramped school bus taking a load of kids home from the Winona High School. The driver stopped the bus in the 1450 block of Gilmore Avenue to break up the fight, but onlookers kept him back. He drove eight blocks back to the school. With the attack still going on, teachers pulled everybody off. The attack lasted a painful seven minutes, said police, who viewed video from on board the bus. The victim, age 15, was taken to the hospital, his face all puffy and possibly, police said, with fractures. There was no blood, officers said. No one else was injured. Police said the video shows the attacker jumped the unsuspecting victim from behind and began pummeling him. The victim tried initially to fend off attacker but gave up and cowered in a defensive mode. Students who tried to intervene were held back by other students who egged on the attack. A girl also punched the victim, police said.
What next?
> The attack was halfway down the aisle of the 48-passenger school bus.
> Police learned of the attack at 3:58 p.m. from Principal Luke Madsen, who called for help.
> The assailant walked away after teachers boarded the bus and pulled everybody off.
> The first two police officers to the school quickly found the assailant.
> Assault charges will depend on hospital reports on the extent of the victim’s injuries, police said.
> Police were unsure what triggered the attack. Random violence? Targeted? Calculated? Just plain meanness?
> Charges of aiding and abetting a criminal act were possible against students who blocked other students and the bus driver from stopping the attack, police said.
> No weapons were involved, just fists. police said.