Missouri police on the lookout for suspect who sucker-punched street-dancing 12-year-old for no apparent reason

Police in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, are on the lookout for a suspect who was caught on video sucker-punching a 12-year-old street corner dancer for no apparent reason.

The video, which was shared on gossip site TMZ, shows the 12-year-old, who is identified in the story as "Ethan," dancing peacefully until the suspect approaches in what appears to be a black Honda CR-V. Someone gets out of the passenger seat of the car and begins moving toward the victim, doing his own dance moves as if to hide the fact that he is about to commit an attack. At the last second, he releases a roundhouse punch against the defenseless youth and then tucks tail and runs like a coward back to his car.

After being knocked down, the young man checked himself and stood back up as onlookers gathered to assess his condition.

According to WBTV-TV, local police believe they have identified the suspect and have made "multiple attempts to locate and take him into custody," but had not yet been successful as of Monday morning. Police are not yet releasing the suspect's name or any other information about him, other than that he is from Cape Girardeau.

Police told WBTV that the incident occurred about 11:40 p.m. Saturday and that the victim told police that he did not recognize the man who hit him, nor did he have any disputes with him that might have caused the attack. He was taken to a local hospital and is expected to recover.

Police are encouraging anyone with information about the crime to come forward. "This is a cowardly and disgusting act of inexcusable violence on one of our public streets and the Cape Girardeau Police would like to ensure that this suspect is safely apprehended," Sgt. Joey Hann said in a statement to WBTV.