According to police, 16-year-old Derrion Albert was an innocent victim who was dragged into a mob of teens fighting on Chicago’s South Side.

The news comes from WLS-TV, ABC 7 in Chicago:

Authorities say 16-year-old Derrion Albert was walking from school in broad daylight when he was beaten to death.

It happened on Thursday in Chicago’s Roseland community on the far South Side in the 300-block of West 111th Street.

According to authorities, Derrion Albert was kicked, punched and beaten to death by several teens near the Agape Community Center.

Police say about a dozen teens were in a massive fight with sticks around 2:30 p.m. Albert got dragged into the mob.

Albert was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Witnesses say the fight that Albert appeared to have walked into was between mostly students from his school, Fenger High, identified by the uniforms they wore.

"These were kids beating kids," said Milton Massie, director, Agape Community Center.

Police are studying video from outside the Agape Community Center. One witness said she saw kids go in after Albert with two-by-fours:

"It looked like 100 kids. We’re talking about kids all over the place, in every direction…On the video, there were kids hopping over cars. The kids had huge sticks. They were going after each other. It seemed as if it was not so much a targeted, but it was random," said Massie.

"Everyone was just letting him get beat…it was basically like he was really by himself," said Tynesha Jackson, witness.

"He was down and they started kicking him. Then I saw they had, like two-by-fours, that’s when we realized that someone need to do something," said Linda Cotton, Agape Community Center.

The center employees pulled Albert’s beaten body to safety.

"He would gasp for a breath a few times but he was unconscious and lying there," said Cotton.

But it was too late.

According to his grandfather who raised him, Albert attended Bible class on Tuesday evenings and church on Sunday.

Our children did this.

I’m simply stunned at this point. I need to reflect and pray about this, how this could have possibly happened. We need to reflect and pray about this one, and for Derrion Albert and his family.

Our children did this.

Read the entire report here.