It was a parent’s worst fear: Rachelle Anderson got a call that a strange man tried to grab her daughter during the lunch hour recess Tuesday.

Anderson said her 11-year-old daughter was with friends when a strange man in a truck started talking to them at Florence Hallock School during recess.

"Kept talking to them, making comments at them, saying 'Come with me, I can take you to my house, it will be fun,'" Anderson explained.

She said the girls noticed the same man during the lunch break and this time the stranger left his truck and walked towards them.

Edmonton police confirm the incident and said the man approached the four Grade 6 girls and grabbed one of their hands.

It was Anderson's daughter who was grabbed. She said her daughter screamed, getting the attention of the lunch-time supervisor.

“When the school called me I was in shock, obviously extremely anxious and just worried about her well-being,” Anderson said.

She said she’s still anxious when her kids go to school just as her daughter was rattled by the encounter.

“She was very shaken up, visibly upset. Every morning starts with crying and not wanting to go to school due to being scared, but when she gets there she is okay. I think she will be nervous for a while yet.”

The lunch-time supervisor managed to take a short cell phone video of the suspect video, which the Edmonton Police Service released Thursday.

Anderson hopes somebody recognizes the truck and the man is arrested.

"If he's brave enough to do it with a couple hundred students around, he'll definitely do it again," she said.

The school sent a letter to parents that day, informing them about the incident.

“We want to make sure that parents are aware of what’s going on in the school community,” Carrie Rosa, a spokesperson with Edmonton Public Schools, said.

Florence Hallock School has added an additional supervisor for the lunch hour and after school, bringing the total number to nine supervisors and six supervisor assistants, Rosa said.

The school district said students should call for a trusted adult when they observe something suspicious is happening.

Anderson said she is glad she taught her daughter to do exactly that.

“Teach your kids how to act in a situation like this. Tell them to scream, get the attention of anyone they can. If my children were not taught this, my life would be very different right now.”

Police released a description of the suspect:

white male in his 30s

175 cm (5’9”)

average build

short white/gray beard

wearing black baseball cap, sunglasses, dark coloured shirt or vest with green sleeves

Anyone with information is asked to contact EPS at 780-423-4567 or submit an anonymous tip online.