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Report: Man Shoots At Pokémon Go Players, Mistaking Them For Burglars
Early Saturday morning, a 37-year-old man from Florida fired shots at two teens who were stationed in a car in his neighborhood at 1:30 a.m., thinking they were looking for a house to rob. Turns out that all they were after were Pokémon.
According to The Orlando Sentinel, the two were playing Pokémon Go, the augmented reality mobile game that's become a cultural phenomenon since its launch earlier this month. After being awoken by a loud noise, the man noticed a strange, white car parked outside his house. He went outside to investigate while holding his handgun. When approaching the car, he heard two teens inside it say to one another, "Did you get anything?" which immediately made him suspect that they were attempting to rob his home. He stepped in front of the car and ordered the boys not to move. However, the car sped off and that's when the man started to fire shots at it.
No one was injured. Police say that the boys were in search of two Pokémon: a Marowak and a Tauros.
Officials are still investigating the incident, and we will update the article should we hear more. This isn't the first time Pokémon Go has spurred unfortunate or criminal events. Last week, armed robbers lured unsuspecting players to a secluded PokéStop. Find out more about Pokémon Go by reading editor Jeff Marchiafava's humor column and watching our Test Chamber.
[Source: The Orlando Sentinel]
Our Take
There's been plenty of crazy stories resulting from Pokémon Go, from a girl in Wyoming finding a dead body whilst playing the game, or armed robbers setting up ambushes near a PokéStop. This story about a man mistaking two kids for burglars is a frightening situation, but it's not surprising since Pokémon Go takes you to some random places, at random times. Stay safe when you're playing.
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