Two teenagers allegedly attacked a 13-year-old boy and set him on fire with gasoline in what police in Missouri are investigating as a possible hate crime.
The eighth grader was walking home from Kansas City's East High School around 3 p.m. last Tuesday when he noticed two older teens following him, KMBC reports.
"And they rushed him on the porch as he tried to get the door open," the boy's mother Melissa Coontold KCTV. "One of them poured the gasoline, then flicked the [lighter], and said, 'This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy'."
Police said that both suspects are black.
Authorities rushed the victim to Children's Mercy Hospital where doctors treated him for first degree burns to the face. Doctors are concerned about injuries to the boy's eyes and lungs, according to KTLA.
The student is now home recovering from the incident, but Coon says her family will never be the same.
"My five year old came in this morning and asked me, 'Mom, am I going to get set on fire today?' I was in tears," the mother told KMBC.
Coon said her son will not be returning to the school.
Authorities described the two suspects are about 16 years old with facial hair. One was wearing a black hooded-sweatshirt and dark sunglasses. The other wore a blue jacket, a blue winter hat and blue-green Nike Air Jordan sneakers.