A six-foot-tall man allegedly followed, assaulted and robbed a Georgia State University student in broad daylight as bystanders watched from nearby.
On Saturday, Amaris was walking away from a MARTA station in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood when she realized a man had been following her. The suspect then chased her in circles while claiming he had a gun.
At the crosswalk at 10th Street and West Peachtree Street, the man grabbed Amaris’s purse and demanded that she hand over both the bag and her phone.
Amaris held on to her purse and refused to let go, triggering a violent confrontation.
The suspect yanked and threw the purse, knocking Amaris to the pavement. The pair then struggled over her belongings.
Contents spilled onto the street as the two wrestled. The man stood over Amaris and punched her several times with a closed fist.
Several people, including multiple men, watched the assault unfold, appearing stunned by what was happening.
No one intervened until after the attacker ran from the scene.
A six-foot-tall man allegedly followed, assaulted and robbed a Georgia State University student in broad daylight as bystanders watched
The suspect grabbed the student’s purse and demanded her phone at a crosswalk near 10th Street and West Peachtree Street
Amaris said she was followed from a MARTA station and chased through Midtown Atlanta by a man who claimed he had a gun
The incident left Amaris shaken, and she said she no longer plans to use MARTA.
She now intends to buy a car after previously relying on MARTA for daily transportation.
“Just the fact that you can be stalked and pinpointed like that, with all these other people on the street,” Amaris said.
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“I don’t have anything to give. I have lip gloss, that’s it. It’s trifling. That’s just the best way I can put it,” she told 11Alive.
The attacker took Amaris’s phone and driver’s license before fleeing north on West Peachtree Street.
Amaris’s family has been tracking the phone’s location and relaying its movements to the Atlanta Police Department.
Bystanders alerted officers to the attack, and police and paramedics arrived at 1:54 p.m.
Amaris was taken to a hospital for a physical evaluation after reporting injuries from the assault.
She suffers from bruises on her back, ankle and leg, making it difficult for her to stand up and walk.
Atlanta police have not identified the crazed man; they described him as a man who wore a light-blue patterned hoodie.
With a dark-colored pants and grey sneakers with white soles, according to Fox5Atlanta.
Although Amaris herself does not fault the onlookers for not intervening, she’s just happy to have ‘made it out alive.’
The bystander effect is defined as ‘the influence of the presence of others on a person’s willingness to help someone in need,’ according to Britannica.
One user commented, ‘ The fact that no one helped her is insaneeee’
Another user said, ‘This is very disturbing, because we had 2 men that was right there, watching this happened!’
One user defended the bystanders by saying, ‘They wanted to help; you can tell by their body language, but it’s so scary out here ppl just killing People just to kill ppl don’t know what to do. Sad but true’
Another user said, ‘Men attacking and men doing nothing… protectors and providers, you say?’
The Daily Mail reached out to the Atlanta Police Department for comment on this incident.