Police are searching for several individuals in connection with an attack on a 15-year-old boy with autism on board a subway train Friday afternoon.

Authorities said the group approached the boy on board an A train around 5:30 p.m. while the train was stopped at the West 181st Street and Washington Avenue station.

What You Need To Know

  • A group allegedly pulled a teenager off an A train on Friday and made anti-Black statements before beating him

  • The teen suffered a laceration to his lip, as well as pain and bruising

  • The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident

The group pulled the teen off the train and onto the northbound platform and began making anti-Black statements, police said. They then struck the teen multiple times in the head and body, according to police.

The teen suffered a laceration to his lip, as well as pain and bruising, according to the NYPD. He was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in stable condition.

Authorities said a preliminary investigation revealed that the attackers fled the station on foot.

After video of the attack went viral on social media, New York City Transit President Richard Davey released a statement on the attack, calling it “heartbreaking and disturbing.”

“Our hearts are with the young man seemingly being senselessly victimized. No one should be subject to this sort of hateful harassment while they are riding with New York City Transit, and the MTA is fully cooperating with the NYPD in its investigation into the incident,” Davey said.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident. No arrests have been made as of Tuesday and the investigation remains ongoing.