Teen beaten by group in Fort Pierce, hospitalized

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - A 16-year-old boy was severely beaten in front of an elementary school in Ft. Pierce late Thursday night.

Nearly a dozen attackers were involved, and so far, police have made no arrests. Witnesses are afraid to come forward for fear of retaliation.

The 3000 block of Avenue I is known as a rough and tumble part of Ft. Pierce, and two eyewitnesses were only willing to speak to NewsChannel 5 as long as they could remain anonymous.

One of the eyewitnesses says she saw the boy get beaten "with poles and rods and sticks."

"It really terrified us," said another eyewitness. "It feels like we can't walk down the street. We have to watch our back every moment, you know."

"It's quite frustrating," said Det. Dave Cuti of the Ft. Pierce Police Department. "We know people saw what happened to this victim. He was really beaten. For someone not to come forward and not give us information and what happened and why, it's very frustrating."

The eyewitnesses say some people tried to stop the beating, then attackers responded by hitting the teen 3 more times and then left running.

While the eyewitnesses say the boy has gotten into some trouble, he didn't deserve this.

"He just wanted to live," said one of the witnesses. "Make it to see another day. He didn't really talk about his goals. He just wanted to make it to another day."

The teenager was having seizures when he was found. He also suffered a skull fracture and bleeding of the brain.