19 year old Shayla Wiggins was just another teenager filled with excitement after she was able to venture on a virtual conquest for her favorite Pokémons on the new Pokémon Go game. Her excitement could not have been halted more dramatically. “I was walking towards the bridge along the shore when I saw something in the water.”” I had to take a second look and realized it was a body.” The man’s death was due to accidental drowning and did not show any evidence of foul play, according to the local Police department.
Although the 19-year-old had nothing to do with the death, nor did her curiosity, it is truly remarkable how unprecedented the incident was, considering that the dead body was so close to the Pokémon Shayla was looking for. The only thing capable of making this incident more bizarre will be if the man himself was looking for that Pokémon and accidentally drowned himself.
In another part of the country, O’Fallon Police report that four men tried to lure victims through the game and then potentially rob them at gun point. Although the role the game played is unclear, the four thugs apparently used beacons to remote Poke-stops. These Poke-stops are the in-game virtual locations where Pokémon’s can be found.
These Poke-stops where effectively used as bait to victimize the players of the game.” It is believed these suspects targeted their victims through the Pokémon Go smart phone application.”- said the O-Fallon Police Department Facebook page. Police have advised users to be cautious of the locations they are going to through the app and let other members of the family know about their future location.
And just like that, this game is causing more problems than simply overloading servers. Augmented reality games are certainly becoming more and more popular but with unfortunate occurrences such as these, limits and boundaries need to be drawn. These disturbing incidents may forever stain the youthful minds of so many people looking to re-invigorate the Pokémon fan inside them.
Stay safe.
