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 “Senior Assassin” game has caused quite a stir across the country, leading law enforcement officers to issue warnings about its potential hazards. Officials are particularly concerned about the use of toy guns in the game, as they can easily be mistaken for real weapons, thereby escalating situations.
Per court records and various news reports, Zehring and his friends were parked outside Walmart in their car when they noticed two teenagers approaching the store. As part of the game, they executed a drive-by shooting using gel blasters, one of them shouting, “I am your senior assassin.” The couple, hit by the water-filled polymer beads, ran into the Walmart for safety.
The targeted girl contacted her father, Ruben Marcus Contreras, 47, who then rushed to the location armed with a 9mm Smith and Wesson pistol. Upon reaching the scene, Contreras confronted Zehring, who was in the process of maneuvering his Chevy Spark out of a parking space. In the spur of the moment, Contreras fired a single bullet into the car, hitting Zehring.
Surveillance footage from the Walmart parking lot revealed Contreras approaching the driver’s side of Zehring’s car, making an attempt to open the door, then pulling out his gun and firing a single shot into the vehicle.
The fired bullet resulted in severe injuries to Zehring, including a ruptured duodenum and spinal cord damage, which led to his paralysis from the waist down. After initially being hospitalized in critical condition, Zehring was shifted to a rehabilitation facility. Contreras was arrested on May 15 and charged with attempted first-degree murder, but was later released on a $300,000 bail.
While the “Senior Assassin” game is seen as a fun end-of-year tradition for high school seniors, it has come under criticism for its potential to lead to serious injuries.
