Surveillance camera shows bus attack

OCALA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The State Attorney's Office has released surveillance video of a 14-year-old girl getting beaten up on a school bus. Deputies tell us the teenager was riding that bus for the first time on Friday, January 6, to what would have been her first day at Liberty Middle School in Ocala. Instead of going to school, the victim wound up in the hospital.

Before things get violent, the video shows a crowded bus filled with rowdy children. According to the investigators report, a shoe was thrown at one point. That was followed by the first scuffle. The bus driver pulls the bus over. The children can be seen settling down. Minutes later things get out of hand again.

"You playin' me?" a boy can be heard yelling to the victim as he's just inches away from her face. Video shows the bus driver turning around, demanding that the boy sits down and he listens. Seconds later, two girls from the back of the bus approach the victim. One girl grabs the victim by the ponytail then delivers an elbow to the back of her neck, the girl next to her joins and they deliver blow after blow. Then a third, fourth and fifth girl get in on the action; screaming, punching and hitting the victim until she's down on the floor of the bus. According to the police report that's when at least two other students kicked the victim. All the while, the driver continues on the route to school.

Minutes later, when the driver finally pulls over, the victim is so out of it that she can't stand on her own. Other students have to help her to the front of the bus. Investigators say she lost consciousness and suffered a concussion from this beating. The beating was so bad it seems even the bus driver was at a loss for words on what to say to the young attackers. "Everyone of you is embarrassing," he's caught yelling on the surveillance.

Marion County Schools declined when FOX 35 asked them to comment on this video. The first school day after the bus brawl, the bus driver handed in a hand written resignation saying he was quitting "due to reasons beyond my control."

Seven students were arrested. They're charged with felony battery. Right now they're all home on suspension. Next month the Marion County School Board will vote on whether they should be expelled from school.