New York City police are searching for a group of suspects accused in a violent assault and robbery Thursday afternoon of a 15-year-old girl in Brooklyn, WCBS-TV reported.

What happened?

The 4 p.m. incident was caught on surveillance video on Utica Avenue near Sterling Place in Crown Heights, the station said.

The girl apparently was knocked to the sidewalk by one male before others joined the attack and began stomping her:

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshotThe size of the mob swelled in seconds as more suspects converged upon her:

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshot

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshotA video taken from another position at the intersection showed the mob beginning to disperse after the attack:

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshotBut one suspect is seen pulling sneakers right off the victim’s feet while she’s crumpled on the sidewalk:

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshotCheck out the sneaker thief as he makes his getaway:

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshotSmile for the camera!

Image source: CrimeStoppers video screenshotThe station said the victim is expected to recover but that her phone and debit card also were stolen.

Investigators believe it was a retaliation attack for an earlier incident, WCBS reported, adding that police haven’t said what the earlier incident was about.

‘Bleeding like crazy’

Carlita Gorden works at a nearby salon and came to the scene when she heard screaming, the station said.

“For so many kids to jump on one individual, it’s just ridiculous,” she told WCBS.

Gorden added to the station that the girl was “grabbing on her book bag. No shoes, just sitting … with no shoes. Then you see the little one holding her sneakers, running away. Come on, it’s sad. We have to do better as a community. We have to do better as people in general. That this little girl could’ve lost her life; it’s really sad.”

The incident took place in front of Anita Peavy’s electronics store, and Peavy told WCBS she quickly brought down the gate and went outside.

“I didn’t need no trouble,” she noted to the station. “I [was] scared the kids [would] come in here and just go crazy the way they was going crazy out there. I have never witnessed nothing like that yet in my life … To see such a small kid just dropping on one kid, it was crazy.”

Peavy is also a registered nurse and tried to help the victim, WCBS said.

“She was bleeding like crazy,” she said. “We just tried to keep her calm and sitting there until the ambulance come.”