7th-grader critically injured in fight

A 12-year-old boy was reportedly clinging to life Wednesday after being punched by a 13-year-old boy.

But investigators say the 13-year-old was only trying to defend himself after allegedly being robbed at gunpoint by the 12-year-old.

The incident began after school Tuesday when two seventh-grade students from Butler Middle School got on an eighth-grade bus and tried to pick a fight with a boy on board, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Robby Russo, chief of police for Cottonwood Heights.

The eighth-grader reported what was happening to the bus driver, who in turn told the principal, he said. The principal then reportedly had the seventh-graders get off the bus, Russo said.

The seventh-graders, however, allegedly challenged the eighth-grader to meet them later for a fight at Anzak Park, 7200 South and 1800 East. Two groups met at the park between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., Russo said.

But rather than fists, two seventh-graders allegedly pulled guns on the eighth-grader, pointed them at his head and demanded his wallet, Russo said. Investigators later learned the weapons were pellet guns, but the eighth-grader did not know that at the time, he said.

The eighth-grader gave the duo, a boy and a girl, his wallet and told them to leave, Russo said.

But Russo said the seventh-graders wanted to continue the confrontation and one of them put his gun away and challenged the other boy to a fight. It was during the ensuing confrontation that the eighth-grader landed some punches on the other boy.

"The seventh-grader stops, backs up, shakes for a second and then goes down," Russo said.

A man who worked with the ski patrol at a local resort saw what happened from the parking lot and rushed to the fallen boy, whose pupils were dilated. The man performed CPR on the boy, Russo said, and called police.

The boy was flown by helicopter to Primary Children's Medical Center in extremely critical condition. Russo said if the boy survives, he will likely suffer some type of brain damage.

Jeff Slater, an uncle of the boy who was hospitalized, told KSL Radio that he's heard different versions of the incident, even one involving another boy kicking his nephew while he was on the ground.

"To defend yourself is one thing, but when somebody is unconscious, to attack them and kick them in the head is another thing," Slater said. He said the boy suffered a lot of brain swelling and hemorrhaging and "was lucky" not to die Tuesday. He said the family's main concern is that police take the case seriously.