Ottawa police are investigating a vicious beating that happened near an Orléans high school Thursday.

One St. Peter High School student was transported to hospital with a head injury suffered in the assault, which occurred over the lunch hour at a bus stop on Charlemagne Boulevard, about 150 metres from school property.

Ottawa Police are investigating the assault of a Grade 10 student near St. Peter High School in Orléans Thursday. The attack occurred at a bus stop about 150 metres from the school. (CBC)

Video posted on social media shows a group of four teenage boys surrounding a student. The student is punched in the face and falls to the ground, where he's kicked in the body several times. His attackers also stomped on his head at least twice.

The video shows the victim trying to cover his head before appearing to lose consciousness.

Orléans resident Andy Pridham, who lives near the high school, said he saw four youths running toward a blue vehicle, then speeding away. Pridham then saw a group of students gathered around the injured boy.

"I saw a large group of kids standing in a circle. One youth was laying on the ground. It looked like he was unconscious. I paused, then I saw that there was a teacher in control of the situation," Pridham said.

A short time later, Pridham saw an ambulance heading toward the school.

Victim afraid of reprisal

Ottawa paramedic supervisor Marc-Antoine Deschamps said paramedics transported a teenage boy with a head injury to CHEO around 11 a.m.

CBC has spoken to the victim but will not identify him because he said he's afraid of reprisal.

The victim is in Grade 10 and said he suffered a concussion in the attack. He told CBC his attackers, who are in Grade 12, assaulted him after he tried to defend another student.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board said it's working with a school resource officer and meeting with parents and students regarding the "off-school property" incident.

Students filmed beating

Matthew Wall, whose daughter is in Grade 12 at St. Peter, said the school has to do a better job reassuring parents and students that it's dealing with the incident swiftly and appropriately.

In this screenshot from a video posted on social media, the victim tries to cover his head while his attackers close in. (Snapchat)

"It's not acceptable behaviour and it's not a true representation of the school and our community. [The attackers] need to feel the ramifications of it," Wall said.

Once the culprits are identified, Wall believes they should be suspended and banned from school sports teams and extra-curricular programs.

Wall said he was disturbed to learn some students stood by and recorded the beating with their phones instead of intervening to stop it.

"It begins with the students. They've got to keep each other safe. They've got to look out for one another."