PHOENIX – An 11-year-old girl who was attacked while walking to school with her 8-year-old brother was able to fight him off and escape. Now, she’s talking to FOX 10 about her traumatic experience in efforts to keep other kids safe.
She’s frightened and shaken up after this morning but she and her 8-year-old brother are speaking out after Tuesday morning’s attack near Griffith Elementary in Phoenix.
“I was running as fast as I can to get home because it was the closest,” says the victim.
Her shy smile hides the fear she has been feeling all day. The 11-year old says her walk to school this morning is one she will never forget.
“I was trying to get up but he was too strong and then he just threw me on the ground, there was like a lot of rocks and glass and everything…”
“She told me to get some help so I ran home and then I helped her walk because her knee was hurting,” recalls the victim’s brother.
The siblings were just a few blocks from home, around 7:30 a.m., when the man grabbed her. He tried to drag her behind an abandoned building.
She suffered a knee injury as a result. Video shot less than a few hours after the incident shows her limping.
“I never found the guy but I went looking for him,” says dad Jeffery Galvin.
Galvin says he grabbed a bat on his way to find the suspect, but ran into police instead, who immediately started to investigate.
In the meantime, the girl relieved the ordeal is over, grateful for the lessons she has been taught about strangers, and proud she was able to fight her attacker.
Her brother told us that he saw the suspect run behind the building after the attack and change his clothes. That’s why their dad believes that the man may have planned this.
Police say they are looking for a Hispanic man who was wearing dirty white pants and a black t-shirt when he grabbed the 11-year old.
Officials at Griffith Elementary said: “We want to take this time to remind everyone that while walking/biking/rolling to school or anywhere else, we should always be aware of our surroundings, NEVER talk to strangers, and if approached by anyone to run and yell for help.”
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