Eighteen-year-old Anakin Zehring, a senior at a high school in Goddard, Kansas, was paralyzed from the waist down following a dispute in a Walmart parking lot on May 11, 2024. The incident took place while Zehring and his friends were engaged in a contentious game of “Senior Assassin,” which culminated in them shooting a girl and her boyfriend with gel blasters.
The game “Senior Assassin” has garnered attention across the United States, leading to law enforcement issuing cautionary statements about its potential risks. The primary concern is the possibility of the toy guns used in the game being mistaken for real weapons, which could result in potentially lethal scenarios.
As reported in court records and various news outlets, Zehring and his friends, while in a car in the Walmart parking lot, saw two teenagers heading towards the store. Adhering to the game’s rules, they executed a drive-by shooting using gel blasters. One of the car’s occupants yelled, “I am your senior assassin.” The girl and her boyfriend, hit by the water-filled polymer beads, quickly retreated into the Walmart.
The girl promptly called her father, Ruben Marcus Contreras, 47, and told him about the incident. Contreras rushed to the Walmart armed with a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun. Upon reaching, he confronted Zehring, who was trying to reverse his Chevy Spark out of a parking spot. Amid the heated encounter, Contreras fired a single shot at Zehring.
Security camera footage from the Walmart parking lot captured Contreras approaching the driver’s side of Zehring’s car, trying to open the door, and then drawing his firearm before firing a single shot into the car.
Zehring sustained severe injuries from the bullet, including a punctured duodenum and damage to his spinal cord, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. He was initially admitted to the hospital in critical condition before being moved to a rehabilitation facility. Contreras was taken into custody on May 15 and charged with attempted first-degree murder. He was later set free on a $300,000 bail.
The “Senior Assassin” game, though designed as a harmless year-end tradition for high school seniors, has come under scrutiny for its potential to lead to serious injury.