Niles police are investigating after a video showing a teenage boy being beaten was reportedly shared on a social app over the weekend.
Niles Police Department Bureau Chief Nick Zakula said Tuesday that detectives are “in the preliminary stages of an ongoing investigation” of the bullying incident.
Ben Collins, principal of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, discussed the incident in an email to parents Monday.
In the email, Collins wrote that Maine South school officials learned of a video shared on social media that showed “high school aged children using an inappropriate sexual phrase directed at another high school aged child and physical violence towards that child.”
A clip of the purported video, shared with Pioneer Press and the Chicago Tribune Media Group, shows a boy speaking to a camera before he is punched in the back of the head by another individual.
“District 207 and its schools take matters like this very seriously, and if it is determined District 207 students were involved, first and foremost, it will be extremely disappointing behavior,” Collins wrote. “Secondly, District 207 will do all it can to follow through with disciplinary action. As with all disciplinary issues, that information will not be released to the public.”
Zakula declined to say where in Niles the incident is believed to have taken place.
“NPD will provide information as soon possible without jeopardizing the investigation,” he said.
Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski said Maine South High School’s new school resource officer is assisting Niles police in the investigation. He declined to share additional information about the case.
Collins, in his email to parents, said school officials learned of the video through Maine Township High School District’s Anonymous Alerts system, which allows students, parents, or community members to submit online tips of “suspicious activity, bullying or other student-related issues.”
The Anonymous Alerts system has been used to inform Maine South officials of prior potential crimes depicted on social media, including a 2017 incident that led to the arrest of two boys who were reportedly holding a handgun in a Snapchat video.
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
