My teenage son got assaulted

So I’ll try to keep this concise but the backstory is this kid who lives nearby but goes to a different high school has been trying to pick a fight with my son for a few weeks now and my son has just ignored it. Last week this kid and another were waiting in a shortcut he walks home from and they jumped him. Well one kid was watching and possibly recording the fight with his phone. Anyway when my son was defending himself and got the upper hand, other kid pulled a knife and slashed at his arm. Didn’t break through but there are tiny slash marks and cuts all through his jacket. He came home obviously pretty shook up.Here’s where my sort of dilemma comes in. I’m not entirely sure how to handle this.There’s angry parent me who knows this kids name and where he lives and wants to bang on the door and tell his parents and hope they or he doesn’t say something and put me in a rage that some wannabe tough guy is swinging a knife when he can’t back up his attitude.There’s responsible parent me who calls the cops and handles this legally and correctly.There’s inner teenage me who remembers that age and knows both those responses make my sons life worse in the short term at least socially, and would want to handle it myself at that age with a few friends and a tire iron..Then there’s just me, a combination of all that who just sat and talked with my son and listened and suggested things and told him it’s ultimately his decision and I will support him. He started of course very mad, wants to get revenge, carry a weapon to protect himself. Calmed down eventually but me responding by going to the parents was not an option (for him). Calling police was initially a hard sell (doesn’t want to be a rat/snitch) but I eventually convinced him that we can report it but he can say he doesn’t know the kid. That way he’s not snitching but there is something on file in case it happens again or escalated or anything. At the very least if he defends himself down the line he can prove a history of harassment and assault.So we did call it in but it’s not a high priority since it’s not currently happening. Spoke with an officer last night and said they’d be by sometime this week. The officer flat out said ‘it’s important to get as much cooperation as possible as usually when it comes to teenagers they do know the perpetrator but they don’t want to be a snitch’.I also have a friend who is a cop but out of town from where we live. I talked with him about it all just for some advice. He straight up told me ‘as a cop I say yes call it in do everything correctly. As just me, there’s enough to have a conviction but the legal system is pretty easy on juvenile offenders and the kid might be out in two weeks and want revenge. So I’m not saying don’t do anything and just have him ready to defend himself, but if he does defend himself make sure it’s not with an illegal or prohibited weapon and that he can prove he had no choice’So that’s all the pertinent info, that’s where I’m at.Reddit parents? Weigh in? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2DonhWJ