A 13-year-old student was walking to her school in Galveston, Texas, at around 6:50 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 27. Before the middle schooler knew it, a kidnapper tried to grab her — but thanks to some quick thinking, she was able to escape. Now, a manhunt is underway.
The Galveston Police Department took to Facebook to announce what officially happened according to their initial findings. The student was walking along the city’s East End near her school when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her approaching fast.
Since then, footage of the man has been released, and the only thing that can be substantiated is that he is Caucasian, wore a black T-shirt, and had a ski mask to hide his face. As the student was walking, she felt the man grab her from behind — she turned back and bit the assailant twice, forcing him to loosen his grip, and she reportedly ran off into her school. Just like that she prevented a case of another tragic kidnapping story.
When she got inside the school, the teachers immediately called 911, and the police arrived at 6:58 a.m. The first thing the police did was issue an alert to medical facilities that might soon receive a patient with similar bite marks.
Upon the arrival of the student’s parents, the police went back to where the student lives — conveniently near the school — and retraced the steps she took to get there. There wasn’t much they gathered from the exercise, but they were able to find a business with a CCTV camera that at least gave them a look at the would-be kidnapper’s physique.
The student wasn’t hurt in the incident. And while children should never have to fight back against criminals, it’s a good skill to have. Some parents have opted to take their children to martial arts schools to teach them self-defense tactics, but sometimes — like in this case — the child figures out how to think quickly on their feet all by themselves. So all props to her for being brave enough to fight back, and hopefully, her school gave her an award of some sort.
The identity of the student has been kept under wraps for obvious reasons. Kids are already being put at risk even when just heading to school, so it’s probably best to respect their privacy and let them focus on their studies.
As for the suspect, police are looking for anyone with leads on who he might be. They have launched an aggressive campaign on their social media pages since the act. After all, if Luigi Mangione was identified through just a glimpse of eyebrows, there’s probably someone out there who recognizes the suspect’s walk or remembers that T-shirt he was wearing.
In the comments section of the Facebook post, the local community is actively trying to figure out who he might be. It seems like only a matter of time before he is eventually identified. The long arm of the law has a tendency to catch whoever it seeks — and may that happen sooner rather than later.
