Law enforcement is continuing to investigate after a 10-year-old boy was attacked and slashed with a machete in Poplar in northern Montana.
Watch the video here:
The boy’s family tells MTN News that three juveniles have been arrested after the attack Monday night, sending him to a hospital in Poplar and then to St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings.
"She was crying and said (the boy) just called me and said he was stabbed. Get to the ER. Get my mom," said the boy's grandmother, Kathy Red Eagle.
That is how RedEagle found out her grandson had been attacked and his knee sliced open just a half mile from her home in Poplar.
Video of the violent attack was shared widely on social media for a couple of days before it was taken down.
RedEagle said she is saddened and upset about what she says was an unprovoked attack by teens and pre-teens. MTN News has been unable to reach law enforcement in Poplar for more information.
RedEagle says the injury to her grandson’s knee was so severe it required surgery on Tuesday and a second surgery on Thursday.
“I saw how deep the cut was. They almost cut his leg off. It was three-quarters inch. They cut a main tendon. He’s going to have a lot of physical therapy,” she said.
As she and her family help her grandson heal, she is also thinking about the punishment for those who did this to him.
"I hope they pay for what they did," she said.
(1st REPORT) Two Poplar juveniles are facing charges of attempted murder after police say they attacked an 11-year-old boy with a machete, according to the Northern Plains Independent.
The victim's family told MTN News the attack happened around 8 p.m. on Monday just a few blocks from where the boy lives in Poplar.
The boy sustained deep lacerations to his right knee and has undergone surgery at a Billings hospital, and according to his family, he has another surgery scheduled for Thursday.
The family shared a photo of the boy, but MTN News is not naming him because he is a juvenile.
A 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl have been arrested in connection with the attack.
The family of the victim told MTN News they don't know why the suspects attacked the 11-year-old.
We have tried contacting Fort Peck Tribal Police, the investigating agency, but have not yet received a response.
