On August 18, 2023, Richard Kuehner's son beaten badly by a group of teens outside the In-N-Out in Gilbert, Arizona. Gilbert police have not yet made any arrests and until recently appeared to have closed the investigation.
Kuehner said she feared for her son's safety after the attack and the lack of a satisfactory response from law enforcement, prompting him to withdraw his son from school in Arizona and send him overseas to live with his mother.
Kuehner said. KSAZ-TV His son said he started receiving threatening messages on Snapchat from someone he didn't know earlier this year. “They were pretty violent. Some had pictures of them with guns pointed at them, some of them threatened Manners and things like that,” Kuehner said.
Kuehner said she immediately reported the messages to both the school district and police. The threats escalated the following week, Kuehner said, when a group of teens showed up at his home and threatened him. Finally, on August 18, a group of 10 teenagers apparently approached Kuehner's son in a white pickup truck at the In-N-Out. The teens reportedly jumped from the back of the truck and attacked Kuehner's son, who was taken to the hospital with kidney damage. Kuehner said the attack has cost him more than $15,000 in out-of-pocket hospital bills.
Police reportedly spent about an hour on his son's cell phone the night of the attack, trying to determine if he had any connection to the attackers or if Kuehner's son had somehow instigated the incident. “I couldn't find any connection. He doesn't even know about these kids.”
No one has been arrested in connection with the attack, and police appear to have shelved the investigation until recently. Kuehner said police eventually sought a warrant for the social media accounts of the people identified on his son's phone and identified at least one suspect. But Cooner wasn't satisfied, telling The Arizona Republic, “I feel better. I'm still angry that it took so long. I'm having a hard time with this. Because things like this… All of this could have been done months ago.”
Police appear to have reopened the investigation on December 14, when information emerged that the attack may have been carried out by a group known as the 'Gilbert Goons'. This group is a gang involved in many unprovoked attacks on teenagers in the area.Ann arizona republic According to the report, Gilbert goons appear to have recorded themselves carrying out these attacks and random assaults on passersby in various public places, including shopping malls and restaurants.
These attacks have reportedly been ongoing for more than a year and may have left at least one person dead. Local parents told The Arizona Republic they suspect the group was behind the Oct. 28 murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord. Kuehner believes Lord would still be alive if police had acted more quickly in response to the attack on his son.
“If any of these kids were the same kids that killed Preston, and if they (police) were doing their job…I'm troubled by that. Maybe Preston would be alive today. , we wouldn't have done this, but we're not.'' “I don't know, we'll see. I think we'll understand once all the dots are connected and everything is resolved.''
The Gilbert Police Department declined to answer most questions from The Arizona Republic, saying the incident is still under investigation.
