Lafayette parents uneasy after attempted kidnapping of 14-year-old

Lafayette -
Parents in Lafayette are shaken by word of an attempted kidnapping Friday morning.

Police say at approximately 8:00 a.m. they responded to a report of a suspicious person who grabbed a 14 year-old-girl near Stanley Middle School.  

Officers said a man approached the teen while she was walking on Monroe Ave. after she was dropped off by a parent. 

The man asked the girl if she was alone and grabbed her by the shoulder. The teen broke free and ran away. She told school officials and they notified police.
 

Lafayette School District officials said police responded quickly and spent hours at the school as part of the investigation.

Police described the suspect as a white man in his 40s, heavyset, five foot 8 or 9, with facial hair stubble.  
 

Police say he wore a grey hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath and dark pants.

Police said the suspect drove away in a white four-door sedan that had mudspray on the driver's side of the vehicle. 

Officials said the girl was shaken by the incident but was not physically injured.  

Parents in the area said the incident was weighing on their minds. 

"I was shocked. I was walking my kids to school this morning," said Jennie Tong, a parent.

"It's horrifying. I worry during the school day, if something bad happens, we have no control," said Ran Li, a parent.

She says she makes sure she can see her daughter walk into the school before she drives away.

"When we drop her off and pick up, we try our best not to let her walk by herself alone," said Li. 

Parents said they received notifications on their phones about the attempted kidnapping from the school district.

"Someone attempted to abduct me when I was a child in Pinole so it's pretty close to home. It's scary," said John Ross, a parent.

He said the trauma of his own experience lingers.  Ross said he keeps track of his children with the help of Apple Airtags.

"After that, I didn't go out very much for a couple of years. When I did, I was looking over my shoulder all the time," said Ross. "It's pretty scary. It makes me concerned as a parent. It's never left my mind."

Some parents said they won't be letting their children walk to school alone  

Investigators are asking neighbors in the area to check their surveillance cameras to see if there is video of the suspect or vehicle.

Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU,  Instagram @AmberTVU  or Twitter @AmberKTVU