Teen recovering after violent attack at Warren Target

WARREN, Mich. (WJBK) - After nearly a week at Children's Hospital, James Brown Jr. is heading home. It is clear he is still suffering after being jumped at Target in Warren.

His mother claims he got into an argument with a girl, and was beaten by two men who retaliated. 

"It's sad our kids can't live without violence," says Jackie Johnson. "Now he's in a state of mind where he doesn't want to go back to school."

We are told it all started last Friday at Warren Mott High School over a fight with a girl for cutting in the lunch line.

"Another young lady came and basically walked up to my son and said, she fights the n-word, and it escalated from there," Johnson says. "It went to the principal’s office and everybody thought it was fine and over with."

But it was far from it. 

Later that day, Johnson says her son walked to Target like he always does and, minutes later, he was attacked.

"He said he was sitting there and two guys walked in and asked him, 'Are you James?'" she says. "He said he was and that was it. They jumped on him."

It happened right in the middle of the store. Johnson says luckily her son had two friends with him, who helped fight the two men off. The suspects are said to be in their early 20s.

But Brown had already suffered severe injuries. He has spent the last week at Detroit Children's Hospital treated for a concussion. The 17-year-old also had surgery on his fractured nose and eye socket.

"Kids should be able to go to school," Johnson says. "Kids are going to have kid spats, but to involve grown people in it? I think that's absolutely ridiculous."

Johnson says they have filed a police report in Warren and investigators are now going after the two men who allegedly attacked her son. All of it, Johnson says, was caught on Target's surveillance video, which is now in the hands of police.