Violent case of apparent bullying caught on camera at Pennsylvania high school

NANTICOKE, Pa. — Shocking video out of a Pennsylvania high school is making news across the country.

Cell phone video captured inside a Greater Nanticoke Area High School bathroom Friday circulated on Snapchat and other social sharing sites. It shows violence playing out in a boy's restroom as bystanders watch and egg the fighting on.

According to WNEP, authorities and school officials are investigating the apparent bullying incident.

In the video, a boy in a red sweatshirt is punched in the face after trying to kick back at his attacker. Then he is punched again, this time egged on by bystanders. The second time he is hit hard.

Bystanders begin to scramble when they realize the boy is hurt.

Tyler Albert received one of the Snapchats. A recent grad of Nanticoke High School, Albert said he was disgusted by what he saw, "I was one of the kids in high school too that was picked on and occasionally bullied and I wasn't just gonna sit there and let other people get tossed around kinda like the way I was."

Albert said he is a casual acquaintance of the boy shown punching the victim. He said he chose to share the video on Facebook and offer a listening ear to the victim.

"There's been a few times at Nanticoke where I reported bullying and not really much was done about it. Like, they were suspended for a day or something like that, so that's why I wanted to bring attention to it and I'm glad it went viral the way it did," said Albert.

Dr. Ronald Grivera, the school superintendent, said, "It makes the district look bad because of the fact it's placed on social media."

Grivera said there are programs in place for students to report bullying anonymously if they witness it. He's disappointed students in this case chose to record it with their cell phones and share it on social media instead.

The school has an anonymous online reporting system, as well as a state mandated program called Safe-2-Say that provides students with a 24-hour hotline and a phone app where kids can report bullying.

"Being that we do have video footage of it now, there will be further disciplinary action for all those involved. And I expect that disciplinary action to be very heavy," said Grivera.

Nanticoke police are also investigating the incident. Chief Robert Lehman said they have several interviews left to conduct this week.

"There's one side of it that's being investigated criminally with the police department and then there's another side of it which is going to be dealt with from an educational standpoint and from a district standpoint administratively," said Grivera.

Local media reports police haven't yet made any arrests in connection with the incident.

The police chief hopes to finish the investigation by week’s end.

CNN/WNEP