11-year-old robbed while walking home from school in Chinatown on Monday: Police

Philadelphia police are investigating an armed robbery of an 11-year-old boy as he walked home from school in Chinatown on Monday.

According to police, the armed robbery took place in an alley at the 900 block of Cherry Street at around 3:30 p.m., just after school got out.

According to a witness who did not want to be identified, she called the police after the boy ran into a hair salon where she was at the time and said he had just been robbed by at least three assailants.

The thieves got away with around $300 cash and the boy’s phone, the witness said.

She said she believes the attackers followed the boy as soon as he got out of school for the day.

“They told him, if you don’t give us your phone, your money, we are going to shoot you,” the good Samaritan told NBC10 in an exclusive interview. “Chinatown here is a community. We look out for each other’s kids. It’s a safe place. It should be a safe place for the kids to be.”

Philadelphia police confirmed they are investigating the armed robbery, but have not released any information on the suspects.

Surveillance cameras are all over the area, and police say they are reviewing footage for more information that could lead to an arrest.

“For that to happen. For him to walk around this way. He came in here and said, ‘I just got robbed,’ and he literally almost broke down,” the witness said. “How could something like that happen, you know? A lot of things come to mind. Kids should be able to be safe walking home from school, as simple as two blocks, or they should be safe in an environment.”