Fort Worth

Fort Worth Police Seek Person of Interest in Attack on 13-Year-Old Girl

Man appeared to change clothes, shave beard, in nearby business

New images of a person of interest in the assault of a 13-year-old girl were released Thursday by Fort Worth police.

Police shared the images on social media, including two screenshots of a man taken from surveillance footage and a stock photo of the vehicle he is suspected to drive.

The video showed the bearded man walking into a nearby business wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and a baseball cap.

He walked into the bathroom, police said, and appeared to change his appearance.

When he walked out, his beard had been shaven, he was no longer wearing the cap, and his long-sleeved shirt was replaced by a t-shirt, police said. 

As the girl, Dorika Wimana, walked to the bus stop to go to Fort Worth ISD's International Newcomer Academy on April 19, she told her family a strange man first tried to grab her backpack then tried to drag her toward a car.

When she fought back, the family said he started to choke her, until her school bus pulled up and scared him off.

Wimana managed to escape the man at about 7 a.m. and reported the attack to a school bus driver.

A 13-year-old girl says a man physically assaulted her as she walked to school Thursday morning.

The bus driver called police and Wimana was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

A community leader, pastor Derwin Harris, said he visited the girl on Sunday and she had made remarkable progress.

She could open her eyes and communicate, he said, but still was unable to speak.

"We are still scared,” her uncle, Emmanuel Uwiduhaye, said. “Maybe the person will come again and do the same thing, even if not us but other people."

The family urged others not to let their children walk alone. As NBC 5 first reported, a group of volunteers is patrolling the area in the mornings to watch out for kids as they head to school.

NBC 5's Scott Gordon contributed to this report.

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