Mastery students involved in attack on man in Center City

Some of the teenagers who beat a man near Independence Hall during an afternoon attack July 29 have been identified as Mastery Charter School students, a school official said Monday.

Surveillance footage of the attack (watch it here),  which occurred around 2 p.m. - hours before more teen mob violence in Center City - shows six males, some with backpacks, walking north on Fourth Street just below Walnut Street. They come upon a man walking south.

The man, who police said is 36, gives the teens room to pass when one, who is without a shirt, suddenly punches him in the head. Two others join in punching and kicking the man.

An eyewitness yells and the students flee. The victim was treated at a hospital for jaw injuries.

After the incident, school officials went door-to-door in Society Hill requesting security camera footage, Gordon said.

Four suspects have been identified as eighth and ninth graders at Mastery's Lenfest campus, on Chestnut Street a few blocks from the attack scene, said Mastery chief executive officer Scott Gordon. The two other students in the video are also believed to be Mastery students, Gordon said, but have yet to be positively identified.

The school has notified police of the students' identities, Gordon said. The students had completed their final summer school session about an hour and half before the attack and had been hanging out, he said.

Police said they have additional footage of better quality that will help them make arrests.

None of the teens has been charged, but police expect arrests as early as Tuesday, said Lt. Ray Evers, a Police Department spokesman.

Mastery has won high praise for its ability to turn around once-troubled middle schools. In July 2010, President Obama singled out Mastery for dramatically boosting test scores and curbing school violence.

Oprah Winfrey gave Mastery a $1 million grant as part of her Angel Network last year.

Mastery aims to prepare students for college with a strict behavior code. More than 90 percent of Lenfest students go on to college, Gordon said.

"We are horrified and shocked that our students were involved in this," he said. "This behavior is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

All of the students involved face expulsion, he said.

School officials Monday sent a letter of apology to neighborhood residents and businesses.

"Mastery now has work to do to repair the damage these students have done to the trust we have built," it read.

"Random violence has become a phenomenon amongst some teens recently. This incident is making us reflect on what more we need to do to counter this trend."