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‘Pokémon GO’ Players Chasing Pikachu And Charizard Shot At In Florida

By Abdul Kuddus
Published on: 22:26 PST, Jul 16, 2016

Pokémon GO players in Florida invited bullets on their car when a man fired at them while they were reportedly chasing Pikachu and Charizard outside his house. The Florida man fired, suspecting them to be intruders, as they fled, but no one was injured.

Pokémon GO has become one of the most successful mobile games of all time, creating a mass of augmented reality crazies. The game forces users to go out into the real world to try to catch different Pokémon characters that appear on screen. Reports mention Pokémon GO games resulted in muggings, car crashes, and cliff rescues.

And now, a shooting episode in Florida. As reported by CNN, this is the latest among several unexpected situations Pokémon GO enthusiasts have found themselves in. The situations, starting from armed robbers luring lone players to isolated locations and a teen discovering a dead body.

According to USA Today, “Flagler County Sheriff’s Office spokesman James Troiano says in a news release that the homeowner awoke to a noise outside about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and saw a car sitting in the road in front of his house. He told authorities he got a handgun and approached the vehicle.”

Reportedly, the two teens in the car sped away and the man fired several shots at them. Later, that morning the mother of the teens informed the sheriff’s office about the flat tire and several bullet holes on the car. She also mentioned that the two teenagers have been playing Pokémon GO.

The augmented-reality of the Pokémon world make players walk the streets chasing down animated creatures, such as Pikachu and Charizard. The fun is to capture as many of the more than hundred species of animated Pokémon characters available.

As reported by the New Yorker, the download of the Pokémon GO app has occurred more than fifteen million times, and is already on more than ten percent of all Android phones.

Undoubtedly in on the Pokémon GO madness, the Florida teens also landed in front of the stranger’s house on Primrose Lane in Palm Coast, looking for the elusive characters.

Click Orlando quoted police deputies investigating the shooting episode saying “they were sitting in the car on Primrose Lane, they heard someone say, “Did you catch him [Pokémon]?” and one of the teens said, “Yeah, did you?” That’s when they heard several shots fired and they sped off, according to the report.

The Florida shooting episode involving Pokémon GO fans recalls the stampede-like situation in the New York Central Park as people barged out of their cars to catch a rare Vaporeon after it appeared nearby. Reportedly, crowds ran chasing the animated character, with one person even leaving his car with the engine running to join in the commotion.

Such is the crazed demand for the app, reportedly Pokémon game’s servers have been unable to cope with the massive rush to play Pokémon GO since it was released on July 6. The app has already broken download records in the U.S. and is expected to create similar demand in other parts of the world.

Social media is awash with comments on the impact that Pokémon GO has had on people. Check out some of the hilarious posts on Twitter.

Another user highlighted the scary side of the gaming app.

Meanwhile, the gaming app faces criticisms for a lack of safety measures. As reported by the Inquisitr, “the game can also play right into the hands of hackers, just waiting for all your private data.”

Considering Pokémon GO‘s popularity, the Florida shooting episode is one of the many buzz-worthy events that could be mentioned. As the gaming fever speeds across the globe, many such situations are shaping up. What are your thoughts?

[Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images]

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