Teenagers with rocks attack mother, children near Plaza

A group of teenagers with rocks attacked a mother and two children Saturday night at an intersection east of the Country Club Plaza, according to the mother, who spoke with The Star on Monday.

One of the teens punched her 11-year-old son in the face, the woman said.

The mother said she was driving her son and his sixth-grade classmate home from a Halloween dance at a nearby school about 9:30 p.m. Saturday when she stopped at the intersection of Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Rockhill Road, where she encountered the group of teenagers menacing traffic.

Some of the teens — among a group of about 15 — pelted the woman’s van with rocks. An older-looking teen used a large rock to shatter a rear window of the van before opening the passenger door and punching the 11-year-old boy. The mother, an educator who lives in Brookside, said that assailant appeared to be at least 18 years old.

The attack shocked both of the children, who were in costume as the Joker and a flapper. “It was their first dance,” the mother said. “They had such an amazing time. They were so excited.”

After the attack, she said, “the kids were hysterical. They were just hysterical. My little guy was traumatized.”

Kansas City police responded to the scene and began an investigation. The Police Department has not yet made a report available or announced any arrests. It is The Star’s policy to not name victims of crimes before anyone has been charged.

The woman said police told her the teens might have been among the same group officers had seen on the Country Club Plaza — less than a mile to the west — earlier that night.

After the attack, police detained several teenagers in the immediate area, but the mother could not identify among them the teen who punched her son. Among those rounded up and handcuffed were at least one young man whom the woman remembered as an innocent bystander.

That left the woman with mixed feelings, she said. “I felt horrible.”

If the younger members of the group of teens could be found, she said, she would like for them to meet her son and see how the attack affected him. Of the teen who punched him, she said, “He needs some consequences.”

The woman said her son still felt unsafe after returning home and insisted on closing the blinds on the windows in the house. On Monday, anxiety drove the boy from his classroom, and he spent much of the day in a school counselor’s office.

This story was originally published October 24, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Teenagers with rocks attack mother, children near Plaza."