ST. LOUIS — No doubt, it was an unexpected, mid-afternoon scare for a middle schooler.
"Just an innocent kid, trying to walk home," Pastor Gregory Purnell said.
Police said, around 3 Monday afternoon, the 13-year-old boy got off his school bus near Vandeventer and Ashland Avenues in the Greater Ville neighborhood in north St. Louis.
Investigators said 10 suspects walked up to the boy and asked if he wanted to buy some marijuana.
Police said when the teen said no, one of the suspects pulled out a gun, pointed it at the boy's ribs and "stole numerous items from him."
"You're taking advantage of somebody. That's what makes me mad," Purnell said.
The crime happened near Purnell's church and a daycare center in Alderwoman Sharon Tyus' 12th Ward.
"You can't walk home freely? Just to walk without a bunch of thugs, I'm gonna say it just like that, a bunch of thugs want to come and impose their will on someone," Purnell said.
"I'm disappointed. I'm saddened. We have to protect our babies," Tyus said.
Police haven't said if the 10 suspects are actually teens themselves.
The good news is the little boy wasn't hurt and neighbors said they are glad about that.
"A lot of what we need to do is to focus on how we make sure the young people are safe," Tyus said.
Immediately after 5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend told Tyus about the armed robbery at the school bus stop, Tyus got on the phone and called several neighborhood fathers.
"Hopefully, there will be some men out here, who have already agreed to be out here looking out for the kids when they get off their school bus. We have to think about being proactive," Tyus said.
Tyus said she was planning a neighborhood meeting for the area.
She said she hopes to get more Greater Ville parents and others to volunteer and stand at school bus stops on a regular basis when students are there.
Tyus said she also will look at whether lighting at school bus stops in her ward may need to be improved.