A video circulating online showing a young teenage girl being assaulted and kicked in the head by a group of other teens on Wednesday, April 1, in the Williamsbridge Oval park in Norwood, had been previously reported missing, according to the teen’s mom. The brutal assault took place where 14-year-old of Ángel Miguel Mendoza Hernández was fatally stabbed during a prior group assault on Aug. 5, 2025.

 

In the video of the latest gang assault, attached further below, a fight appears to break out in the vicinity of the Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center near the basketball courts between a group of teens. Several teens are heard shouting in shock at the sight of the fight while others film it.

At least one young teenage girl is seen being kicked in the face by another girl, after which her head hits the pavement, and she is also seen being hit/punched by another boy. Another person, seemingly male, also appears to be assaulted a short distance away. One girl is heard saying seemingly to the girl on the ground something to the effect of, “Don’t you come back into this f*cking park, Bitch.”

 

We asked the local NYC Parks’ employees at the recreation center if they had seen or heard the assault on Wednesday and the manager said they had not. We asked if we could view the footage from the newly installed cameras and were informed that we could not.

The video lasts for about a minute. In the meantime, the mother of the female victim contacted Norwood News to say that it’s her daughter in the video being assaulted and that she had been reported missing in December 2025, had subsequently returned home, but had gone missing again on Feb. 19. Norwood News had indeed reported on the missing teen, Samantha Carattini, in January this year.

 

The girl’s mother said she, herself, has since spoken to the NYPD, having seen the video of the assault online and having identified her daughter from it. When contacted earlier on Friday to ask if they had received a complaint regarding the assault, an NYPD spokesperson told Norwood News, “There are no reports on file with the information provided in your inquiry.”

 

A YOUNG GIRL is seen lying on the ground seemingly in the Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood after she was reportedly stomped on in the face and hit by a group of youths at around 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Video courtesy of a local resident.

The girl’s mom, Cheryl Carattini, said her daughter is 16. The original NYPD missing person’s report identified her as being a resident of Bedford Park. Carattini mentioned that her daughter had been experiencing a lot of mental instability since the death of her father and that she had allegedly told other people that she had been thrown out, an allegation her mother refutes. Her mother went on to say that she is currently paying for her daughter’s cell phone and had even been in touch with her recently but since the assault, she has been unable to reach her.

 

Carattini alleged Samantha had run away in the past. With her consent, Norwood News shared Carattini’s contact information with both the NYC Parks department and with the NYPD, since the mom said she wants to view the security cameras installed in the Oval in order to see in which direction her daughter left after the assault. In the video, she is seen sitting up after the incident. [We informed the girl’s mom that we had requested to view the footage at the rec center but were refused by the Park’s department.]

Three NYPD vehicles were later seen in the park on Friday evening, April 3. Two park goers who spoke to Norwood News said they stopped, officers got out and talked to some people, and then left again. They are seen leaving the park in the attached video and in the below photo.

 

In reference to the assault, a separate concerned parent with knowledge of the video, had earlier written, “My child showed me a video that has been circulating among students. It appears to show a group of teenagers assaulting a young girl at a park April 1, 2026 around 4:30pm.”

Police are seen patrolling the Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood April 3, 2026, two days after two teens were assaulted by a group of other youngsters. Photo by Síle Moloney

The user continues, “If any parents in this group recognize the teens involved, either participating in or encouraging this act of violence, please check in with them immediately. If you are the parent or guardian of the victim, please feel free to use this video as evidence for reporting or legal action.”

She continues, “It is deeply upsetting that with school already out, this is how spring break is beginning. We must do better as a community to ensure our children are safe and supported.”

 

Norwood News spoke to the concerned parent in question earlier on Friday and asked if she could confirm if the incident definitely took place in the Williamsbridge Oval in Norwood on April 1, at 4.30 p.m. and she confirmed that it did as she had a time stamp for the video. We asked if her own child was ok, and she said he was, adding that he was not involved in the incident.

In reference to the newly installed cameras and Angel’s death last year, we asked the woman how she felt as a parent in light of the latest assault in the park. The resident referenced the upcoming Spring Egg Hunt planned for the Oval on Saturday, April 4, and in light of that event and the assault added, “This is very scary.” She also said that there had been a number of other fights in the park the same day. Carattini had also alleged there are frequently fights in the park.

 

Norwood News also followed up with EMS to ask if the department had been alerted about the assault on Wednesday and a spokesperson responded, saying, “Nothing found at provided location and time.”

As reported, following Ángel‘s death last year, amid widespread public concern in the local community, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) announced on Dec. 16, 2025, that 20 cameras had finally been installed all around the Oval recreation center, while other “Argus” cameras  funded by Councilman Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11) and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, have also been installed outside the entrance to the Oval on Van Cortlandt Avenue (as seen in the attached photo) as well as another inside the park near the basketball courts.

It’s unclear if another device affixed to a pole located directly inside the park entrance located in front of Van Cortlandt Avenue is also a camera or not. Norwood News has asked the NYPD for clarification.

Several residents we spoke to in the Oval park on Friday said they did not know anything about the apparent assault on the young girl and were saddened to hear of it. One person said there were fights in the park every day among youngsters. We returned at around 4.30 p.m. and spoke to a number of youth (over 18) in the park and though some had heard of the incident, one group said they had been in Harlem on Wednesday at that time, and another group said they heard about it but hadn’t seen it.

 

On Sunday, March 22, following a single-vehicle car crash on Jerome Avenue and Mosholu Parkway, also in Norwood, we spoke to an young male employee working in the corner deli located at the intersection of the two streets and in passing he mentioned that a few days prior, a young girl had been jumped on after school by several other youth and had come into the deli crying. He said someone eventually accompanied her home.

As reported, five teens were arrested and four were later charged with Ángel’s murder, while others are still sought. As reported, the incident shocked the local community and and was followed by some disturbing rapes close to the same area to where the murder took place. Read some of our previous coverage on Angel’s death and its aftermath here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

 

As reported, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark announced on Friday, March 27, that three teens were formally indicted for the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Christopher Redding, who was killed on Feb 11 as he ran amid gunfire at West 238th street and Broadway in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx. Two other teens were wounded during the same incident.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.