Chicago police investigate beating of girl recorded on video

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police are investigating an attack on a teenage girl after cellphone video shared online showed her being repeatedly struck by a group of people as onlookers laugh.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EHL’-mee) tweeted Tuesday that the video “is beyond disturbing to watch and this young girl deserves far better.” He says the video has been forwarded to the department’s Special Victims Unit and a criminal investigation is under way.

The video was shared online by a person who wrote that she was a friend of the girl who was attacked. The post said the girl has a “mental disability.”

The video shows several girls or young women beating the girl as she screams. WLS-TV reports the girl was treated and released at a hospital afterward.