A 20-year-old college student lost his life this past weekend playing Pokemon Go in San Francisco.
Calvin Riley was fatally shot while playing the mobile game at the Aquatic Park in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Riley was a pitcher for the San Joaquin Delta College baseball team.
According to ABC7, Riley and his family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for a better and safer life.
More details on the crime, from ABC7:
Officers located him suffering from a bullet wound to his torso. Riley received first aid but died, according to police.
A friend said Riley and a friend noticed someone suspicious watching them from the top of a hill that overlooks the park, but it was dark and they were looking down most of the time as they looked at their cellphones.
Riley died in what friends and family are calling a random attack. “From what we know there was no confrontation. There was nothing said back and forth. It was just senseless, just came up and shot in the back and ran away for nothing,” Family friend John Kirby said.
Kirby is a close family friend. He’s speaking on behalf of the parents who are too devastated to talk. “There was a large group of people playing Pokemon and then his buddy started playing, as well. Calvin got a little bit ahead of his friend and kind of went around a corner,” he said.
Kirby said the pair noticed someone watching them. “Then when the friend came around a corner he heard a gunshot, saw his friend fall, and whoever did it ran away and possibly got into a car,” he said.
Spoke with Calvin Riley's coach at San Joaquin Delta College. "Great kid. Great competitor." #abc7now pic.twitter.com/DeTzkgBLvB
— Elissa Harrington (@EHarringtonTV) August 7, 2016
Now to blame the crime on Pokemon Go would be extreme, as the crime seems to have come out of nowhere, with the murderer coming from behind for no reason. At the same time, it’s a reminder that people should always be aware of their surroundings when playing the game, or looking at their phones in general in public.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for Riley, and you can make donations to help the family pay for the funeral here.
[ABC7]
