The attack happened at about 7 a.m. Thursday on Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive at Vesper Place.

Police said the Arsenal Tech High School freshman was waiting for the bus when a man approached her and stole her cell phone after trying to sexually assault her at gunpoint, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.

"He put a gun in her side, and he proceeded to get her to go across the road," said Ashley Mills, the girl's father. "She kept fighting and struggling."

The girl told police that she was texting on her cell phone when the attacker grabbed her from behind.

The teen said the man told her, "If you move, I will shoot you," before he began dragging her across Pleasant Run.

The girl told police that she began screaming before the man told her, "Stop screaming, or I will shoot you."

The attacker then placed the girl next to a tree and began attempting to pull her pants down, the girl told police.

The teen said she then saw a school bus and that the driver and students on the bus were instrumental in getting the assailant to leave.

The bus driver called 911 as several students got off the bus to chase the man.

"Luckily, her bus showed up and was honking, and the bus monitor and several of the male students ran off the bus," Mills said. "He still had her on the ground, fighting with her."

"To see people heroically put themselves in harm's way is certainly heroic in that sense," said Kendale Adams, Indianapolis police public information officer. "We are certainly proud of the bus driver and those students."

The attacker was described as black, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 180 pounds. He was wearing a dark jacket with white fur, dark jeans and a gray skull cap. Witnesses said he ran eastbound on Pleasant Run Parkway

The girl was not injured and was on the bus shortly after the incident. Police asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.

Mills said he's concerned that the bus stop is in a dangerous spot.

"I told them they're going to have to move the bus stop, because it's pretty secluded over there," Mills said.

An IPS spokeswoman told 6News that they will call Mills to see what can be done to address concerns about the bus stop.