I know we were seen. The problem is that my friend was banned for defending himself and the rest of us were banned for knowing him.
The only reason he touched him was to restrain him to stop the punches. He even told me afterwards he didn't want to punch the kid back because he didn't want to be arrested for fighting him.
The only reason we walked away was because my friend clearly had it under control. The kid hit him once and was instantly restrained. I felt it would look worse if all four of us confronted a this kid instead of one. The one who restrained the kid is also in 9th grade so they were close to the same age group. It would be terrible if I got involved. I do regret just leaving though. I figured after it happened the kid would have learned not to mess with random people and that would be the end of it. If I would have known Target would trace us all I would have stayed to file a report.
If someone stayed and one other went to go tell someone that worked there, the kid could have got caught. The person that stayed may have to suffer, but it'd pay off.
Also, since you were almost in the same age group, I don't think it matters. You shouldn't touch anyone that you don't know, no matter what.