13-Year-Old Girl Bites Man to Escape Potential Kidnapping After He 'Grabbed Her from Behind' on Walk to School By Becca Longmire 29

A 13-year-old girl in Texas bit a man to escape after he “grabbed her from behind” in a suspected kidnapping plot, police have said.

On Monday, Oct. 27, at approximately 6:58 a.m. local time, Galveston Police Department officers responded to the city’s Central Middle School after receiving calls from the school reporting that a student “had been approached and grabbed by an unknown man” on her way there, per a press release shared on Facebook.

The teenager told police she’d been walking to school from her family’s East End apartment when “she heard footsteps approaching from behind, near the 900 block of 28th Street,” according to the release.

The girl ended up biting the suspect twice, and, luckily, managed to escape.

Police said, “The student reported that a man grabbed her from behind. After a brief struggle, during which the young victim bit the assailant twice, she managed to break free and ran directly to Central Middle School.” 

“The victim did not sustain any physical injuries during the incident,” the release stated, adding, “Teachers at the school contacted police after hearing the student’s account.”

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Police said that an alert to local medical facilities had been issued “to notify [them] if anyone sought treatment for bite-related injuries.”

The student’s parents went to their daughter’s school and “accompanied officers back to their apartment and retraced the student’s route to identify where the incident occurred,” the post stated.

Officers then came across security video footage from a business in the 1000 block 24th Street, showing the student walking through the area before she was followed shortly afterward by a man taking the same path.

Police said, “The suspect appears to be a White or Hispanic male wearing a black short-sleeve shirt, blue jeans and what appeared to be a ski mask.”

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Police are asking the public for help in identifying the suspect, and have urged anybody with information that may be helpful to come forward.

The Galveston Police Department didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.