FBI joins probe into bullying of Georgia teen Trent Lehrkamp as crowd calls for costs exterior hospital
The FBI has joined an investigation into the hazing and alleged torture of Georgia teen Trent Lehrkamp final week — as an indignant crowd gathered outside the victim’s hospital to demand justice.
Tons of of individuals confirmed up for a vigil Monday evening exterior the hospital the place Lehrkamp, 19, was being handled, with many within the throng holding candles and demanding authorized motion in opposition to the teenagers — college students at close by Glynn Academy Excessive Faculty.
No costs have been filed within the case, however native police mentioned they’re now consulting with the FBI and different businesses because the probe escalates.
Lehrkamp was dropped off at a Brunswick emergency room early Wednesday morning after he was plied with harmful quantities of alcohol, urinated on, and spray-painted from head to toe, in line with a police report.
The teenager was positioned on a ventilator in an ICU unit with a sky-high 0.46 blood alcohol stage — however his situation has since stabilized, officers mentioned.
The traumatized boy’s father, Mark Lehrkamp, advised police that he had been repeatedly hazed and bullied by the identical group of boys at a home within the rich enclave of Saint Simon’s Island.
The stricken father mentioned his son persists in associating along with his assailants “as a result of he has no different buddies.”
A number of movies and pictures of Lehrkamp’s abuse had been posted to social media in current days, sparking anger on the perpetrators and sympathy for the soft-spoken teen.
Police are investigating if a photograph circulating on social media was taken from final week’s incident.
The picture exhibits Lehrkamp sitting unconscious in a chair whereas coated in spray paint as a number of bird-flipping males stand behind him and mug for the digicam.
Simply days earlier than Tuesday’s depravity left Lehrkamp close to loss of life, his father advised police that he went to the identical location and got here residence coated in “WD-40, vomit, paint, glue, egg yolk, and spray paint,” in line with court docket paperwork.
The teenagers who dropped Lehrkamp off on the emergency room final week gave staffers their names and telephone numbers however departed earlier than police arrived.
In response to a number of shops, Lehrkamp, a graduate of Glynn Academy, misplaced his mom simply two years in the past when she was simply 43 years outdated. She handed away on the similar hospital the place he’s now being handled.