FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A mother and her nonverbal autistic 12-year-old son were attacked from behind with a blunt object while walking to catch a bus in Fort Lauderdale, leaving both injured and a stranger still on the loose.
The attack occurred along the 1000 block of Northwest Fifth Avenue, at around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
According to Fort Lauderdale Police, an unknown individual approached the pair from behind and struck them both. The boy suffered an abrasion to the face; his mother sustained a laceration to the back of the head.
Both were transported to Broward Health Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening and have since been released.
Outside their home, the mother, Chrissy, told 7News she was trying to shield her son when the attack happened.
The single mother said it began as an uneventful day as she walked her son to school before she had to go to work.
“Take him to school and then, you know, me go to work and my appointments, and some guy just comes behind us out [of] the blue — my son’s nonverbal, he’s disabled, that’s sad — and then he just comes and tells him something and attacks him, and then I had to intercept and get in front of him, and he attacks me,” she said.
Chrissy believes the unknown assailant was armed with a stick of some kind, directing words at the boy before striking them, words that made no sense to her.
“He didn’t say nothing, he just said, ‘I told you not to come,'” she said as she held back tears. “I’m like, ‘Why is he talking to my kid. He doesn’t know this kid. This kid is 12 years old. Regardless what size he is.'”
The subject ran from the area, leaving Chrissy bleeding and her son with a cut on his face.
Chrissy said she just recently moved to the area, and now her son is traumatized.
“It doesn’t matter where you live. You don’t make your own neighborhood a problem for the neighborhood, especially kids who can’t fend for themselves,” she said.
Chrissy said she has no idea who attacked them or why. The only detail she could recall about the individual was that they were wearing a red shirt at the time of the attack.
She added that she is furious that this happened and frustrated at the lack of progress in identifying the attacker.
“Do you know how hard it is when you have to work every single day, try to make a living, do it by yourself? You don’t get no help, then some stranger goes ahead and attacks you, and anybody that’s around you is gonna be like, ‘We don’t care.’ You’re just a human that’s trying to work and survive,” she said.
Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident but have not provided a description of a possible subject.
If you have any information on this attack or the subject’s whereabouts, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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