Chicago Subway Attack: Teens Assault Elderly Man On Camera
Police in Chicago have launched a manhunt for a group of teens who assaulted an elderly man on a subway train, after video of the incident was posted online.
According to the Daily Mail, the attack took place on a CTA Blue Line train. Two men, who appeared to be in their early 20s, approached the elderly man and slapped his head, at one point so hard that it can be heard in the recording. Laughing, they jumped around the man, taunting him. Though the elderly man attempted to fight back, his attackers simply continued laughing and jumped out of his way.
A friend of the two men recorded the attack and posted the clip to Facebook. The young man, who calls himself “A-T-L,” was contacted by WBBM, and said that he did not take part in the attack.
“I don’t know why they did what they did,” he related. “I just recorded it because it was funny.”
A-T-L also told WBBM’s Steve Miller that the elderly man had instigated the incident by using racist language.
“We didn’t do nothing. We got on the train and he was saying some racial slurs,” he alleged.
Cruel teens cackle with laughter as they slap and taunt elderly man on Chicago subway http://t.co/7Gjq7hykZX pic.twitter.com/7bS27FFYsS
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) December 13, 2014
In a statement, the CTA called the subway incident a crime, adding that Chicago Police have opened an investigation.
“Though this crime apparently was not reported, because neither CTA nor Chicago Police have a report of the incident, we are pulling additional video to share with police as part of a now-open investigation,” they said. “We encourage members of the public who witness a crime to report it immediately, especially if they have evidence such as a video. Incidents like this are rare on the CTA.”
Last month, video of another attack in a subway train went viral. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the video documented an altercation on the New York City subway, between an incensed woman and several men. During the course of the incident, a physical altercation broke out on the train, in which both parties struck at each other. The woman was slapped by one of the men during the attack, sparking controversy among those who viewed the video.
The men responsible for the Chicago subway attack are still at large, though police are seeking their whereabouts. Chicago police have also asked anyone that recognizes the men from the subway attack video to come forward.
[Image via the Daily Mail]
