Video: 9 Florida High Schoolers Arrested After Beating Teen Who Stopped Them from Bullying Girl in Cafeteria

Nine high school students in Florida have been arrested after allegedly beating a classmate who stood up to them and stopped them from picking on a girl in the cafeteria, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said. The Harmony High School students, including one who is just 14 years old, were caught on video beating their 17-year-old classmate, who ended up needing 11 stitches in his head, the New York Post reported. “This was a serious attack,” Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Captain Kimberly Montes told Fox 35. She called the accused attackers “cowards” who should be tried as adults. “This was not one-on-one, two-on-one — this was nine students against one, and we’re just lucky he didn’t receive more serious injuries than what he got,” she said. “We tell kids all the time, ‘Stand up for somebody else!’ It takes a lot of courage to do that. He did this and these nine students that beat him up are the ones that are cowards.” The victim first intervened to tell the bullies to stop pelting a girl with carrots, according to the report. The victim and a few of the other teens got into an argument before he left the cafeteria with the girl, officials said. After the final bell, one of the teens involved allegedly attack him as he walked to his car, and eight others joined in and began beating him up, law enforcement said. Video captured on a cell phone and obtained by a local media outlet show the gaggle of attackers physically assaulting him as others can be heard egging on the fight. The victim’s girlfriend was able to break up the fight, according to the report. The victim’s mother took him to the hospital, where he had 11 stitches on his face, police said. Police said they identified nine alleged attackers on the cell phone video. “Two 18-year-olds, Quianelle Antonio Reyes-Cintron and Bryan Alexander Ramirez, were booked into the Osceola County Jail. The seven others — a 17-year-old, five 16-year-olds and a 14-year-old — were taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center. But the sheriff called for all nine to be tried as adults,” according to the report. “All nine were charged with felony aggravated battery and felony inciting a riot, authorities said.” Mark Shanoff, Osceola County School District superintendent, condemned the attack and said violence is not tolerated on or off the campus, according to the report.