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WEST VALLEY CITY — Granite School District police and West Valley police are searching for a man who may have attempted to kidnap a child at Whittier Elementary.
On Thursday about 3:50 p.m., a third grade girl at Whittier Elementary, 3585 S. 6000 West, was "accosted by what appears to be an older juvenile male," Granite School District said in a news release.
Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said the 8-year-old girl had walked to her mother's car where they were waiting for her older sister after school. The mom asked the daughter to walk back toward the school across an open area to find her older sister and make sure she knew where they were parked.
When the girl went back up to the entry of campus, the man approached her, grabbed her and pulled her into a cove that is the exit spot for the cafeteria on the northwest side of the building, Horsley said.
The spot they were in was directly below a camera so they were not seen, but an interior camera in the cafeteria was able to partially see the incident, Horsley said during a press conference Friday.
After the man grabbed her, the girl started kicking and screaming. An adult supervisor at the school heard the girl's screams and went to the area.
The girl was able to free herself and fled back to her mother's car about 60 yards away, Horsley said. The man at first started running after her, but then fled the other way heading north along 600 West and east along 3500 South.
When the man started fleeing north, the supervisor tried to stop him but was unable to, Horsley said.
"I saw the video this morning, and she fought for her life. She did everything absolutely right," Horsley said emotionally during the press conference. "This is every parent's worst nightmare. We thank the heavens nothing further happened in this particular incident."
Horsley said this incident is "shaking me." In his 14 years at the school district, he had never seen such a "brazen attack" on school property.
"We are grateful that one of our employees heard her screams and was able to assist her. We also commend this student for doing the right thing by making noise and fighting back. Our hope is that with community input, we are able to identify this individual as quickly as possible," the school district said in a press release.
Horsley said the student is safe, unharmed and doing "quite well" for such a scary situation.
Police are following multiple leads to try to identify the man who they think is a young adult in his early 20s. Horsley said the man was not identified by any of the schools as a student or recognized by anyone in the Whittier Elementary community.
Police said the man is about 150-160 pounds, around 5 feet, 9 inches tall and described as "light-skinned African American/Somalian or Hispanic." Police said they have information that leads to the assumption he may be homeless, but it is still unclear.
He was wearing a black beanie, a blue and gray sweatshirt and gray pants during the incident. Police urge anyone with information about this individual to contact Granite Police Department dispatch at 801-481-7122.
Police provided a video of the individual running away from the school on Friday afternoon.
Horsley said it is very clear the individual intended to do harm, but the intent of the attack is still under investigation by both Granite and West Valley police.
The school district said there will be additional officers at multiple schools in the area to ensure student safety as the investigation continues.
"We're quite concerned considering the brazen nature of this attack that this individual might seek to come to other locations. So we are beefing up our police presence with the help of West Valley and other police agencies," Horsley said.
