WARNING: GRAPHIC
The family of a 14-year-old Kentucky girl says one of her female classmates brutally assaulted her with a "metal tumbler" on a school bus earlier this month.
Emma Filback, a freshman with autism at Franklin Simpson High School, was riding the school bus on April 18 when "she was attacked by another female high school student who hit her in the head repeatedly with a metal tumbler" with "no provocation," the description on a GoFundMe page for the family states.
"These two have never spoken to each other before the incident occurred," the GoFundMe page says.
Emma's family shared several graphic photos of the 14-year-old's bloody head injury, which required her to get stitches across the top of her scalp.
Chryslee Filback, Emma's mother, filed an Emergency Protection Order on Monday that was "denied by the judge, for unknown reasons," the family said.
Simpson County Superintendent Tom Schlosser told Fox News Digital that the school district referred the case to Franklin Simpson High School's designated school resource officer (SRO), who works for the sheriff's office. The SRO is working with the Simpson County Attorney's Office.
"We do not condone that behavior, and we take this situations very seriously. We're handling it. We're dealing with it. Both parties get due process," Schlosser said. "We've reached out to the family. We've supported the family."
Emma's family is also alleging that cameras on the school bus did not capture the attack.
In a Monday statement, the Simpson County School District confirmed that "a student incident" involving "two students" on a school bus occurred on April 18 around 3:35 p.m.
"The bus monitor immediately intervened to stop the incident," the school district said. "The parents of both students involved were contacted by our Transportation Office, and by school administrators. Local law enforcement was also contacted."
Franklin Simpson High School administrators met with both students on April 18.
"This matter is being dealt with in accordance with our District and School Policies. The School District will continue to process the investigation and will deal with all administrative issues as they pertain to student discipline," the district said. "Local law enforcement and the County Attorney’s Office are responsible for addressing any criminal action that is deemed necessary as a result of the incident. Since both parties are juveniles, the ability of the school district to further comment is limited by state law."
The alleged attacker — an older student at Franklin Simpson, according to Emma's family — apparently posted a photo of the tumbler on social media with the caption, "I beat her with this." Emma's family shared a screenshot of that social media post to their GoFundMe page.
The family has established a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise funds for an attorney "to not only protect their autistic daughter but also to receive justice against any person or organization that may have mishandled this traumatic incident."
"Emma is also going to need hours of trauma therapy and counseling," her family said.
