Can anything be done about violence in America? How are laws different where you live?

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Disclaimer: I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over thirty years and have only actually been physically attacked once. It was by a kid who hit me from behind with an aluminum water bottle. The second blow, to the side of my head, broke my glasses. The third bloodied my hand as I grabbed my falling glasses. The attacker then went after a child in the same area and punched him in the face. I was able to run after the attacker, tackle him, and hold him from behind until support arrived. I did report the incident to the police, and they said nothing could be done, as the attacker was under 18 and nobody sustained severe injuries. What would happen to an under-age violent attacker where you live? This morning I was trolling YouTube, and I came across this video, from FOX news. A female police officer in Virginia was surrounded by a mob, and narrowly escaped. But the story that got to me, and led to this post, was the one that followed. A group of 12- and 13-year-old girls attacked an old man and killed him. Apparently they got him on the ground and stomped on his head while he was down. What should happen to these girls? Will they be tried as adults? Will they spend some time in "Juvenile Hall" and the released into society? And what of their parents? I am sure their parents will be investigated. What kind of childhood would lead to such behavior in a group of 'tweens? Will the parents be charged? As I have mentioned in many previous posts, most people are good, and usually only the bad ones make the news. But there are bad people out there and too often they get away with being bad. Some of the solutions that come to my mind (forced sterilization for repeat violent offenders; shooting shoplifters in the leg, life imprisonment for gun crimes, etc.) are either draconian or impractical. But I am OK with more police, more (and less luxurious) prisons, and stiffer sentences. What do you think?