A group of vengeful parents and apartment tenants severely beat a man Thursday after they claim he threatened some of their children with a knife.

Amarillo police said the man went to an apartment complex in the 500 block of Southwest Second Avenue about 8:45 p.m., claiming someone stole some of his property.

After he arrived, officers said he encountered a group of about six children, who lived at the complex, and threatened them with a knife.

The children ran into nearby apartments to tell their parents about the man, police said. Police said about seven or eight tenants came out of their apartments and started beating the man in the street.

Officers said they think a brick may have been one of the objects used in the assault. The man, who did not live in the complex, suffered severe head injuries but was expected to survive, police said.

He was being treated Thursday night at an Amarillo hospital, police said. No arrests were made, but police continued to question those involved and investigate the incident.