A Kansas teen was left paralyzed from the waist down after a fellow teen’s father shot him amid a sport of “senior murderer,” in response to legislation enforcement paperwork launched this week.
Ruben Marcus Contreras, a person in his late 40s, was arrested and charged with tried homicide in reference to a Could 11 taking pictures in a Walmart car parking zone within the city of Goddard. Sedgwick County deputies mentioned he shot 18-year-old Anakin Zehring after Zehring and his mates had shot at his daughter with a gel blaster, a toy gun that makes use of water-based beads, in response to an affidavit launched Wednesday and obtained by JHB.
Contreras’ legal professional didn’t reply to JHB’s request for remark. He was launched on bond following his arrest.
“Senior murderer” is a sport performed by highschool seniors nationwide, during which college students are given a “goal” and tasked with eliminating them with a water gun or balloon till there’s just one participant left. Many teenagers contemplate it a ceremony of passage, however lately, faculty officers and police have warned towards it, fearing gamers will take issues too far; a 16-year-old in Pennsylvania collapsed and died after a chase associated to the sport final month.
On the evening of Could 11, Zehring drove his blue Chevrolet Spark to the native Walmart, with two different teen boys driving with him. In keeping with the affidavit, Contreras’ daughter and her boyfriend have been strolling towards the Walmart as Zehring and his mates drove previous them. One of many boys inside Zehring’s automotive yelled, “I’m your senior murderer,” and shot the gel blaster at her.
Contreras’ daughter’s boyfriend advised deputies that neither he nor Contreras’ daughter knew who the teenager boys have been and went to confront them. One of many teen boys allegedly referred to as the boyfriend a “bitch” and advised him to fulfill them out again.
The couple referred to as Contreras to inform him they’d been shot at with gel blasters, and the boyfriend mentioned the three different boys have been “making an attempt to beat him up,” in response to the affidavit.
A short while later, Contreras arrived on the Walmart car parking zone and walked towards Zhering’s Spark “in an indignant method,” in response to a Walmart worker interviewed by legislation enforcement.
Contreras then allegedly pulled out a black handgun from his waist and fired one spherical via automotive’s again window into Zehring’s again, in response to one of many boys in Zhering’s automotive, per the affidavit. As Zehring misplaced feeling in his legs, the automotive crashed right into a transport container within the car parking zone.
Contreras advised a bystander who rushed to the teenager’s help that “they shot my daughter” a number of occasions, in response to the affidavit. Authorities discovered Zehring screaming and stating that he couldn’t transfer his legs.
Anakin Zhering’s dad, Jeremy Zehring, confirmed with JHB {that a} good Samaritan had rushed over to his son.
“He took his personal shirt off and held the wound shut so the bleeding can be contained and prayed for my son till the paramedics received there, ” Jeremy Zehring advised JHB.
He and his spouse noticed a Fb submit that mentioned there had been a taking pictures on the Walmart. They then checked a GPS tracker on their son’s automotive and noticed that he was there.
“So then I began calling and it was going straight to voicemail, and I began panicking so then I have a look at my spouse, and say, ‘We now have to go,’” he mentioned.
“I noticed his automotive, totally a wreck, they usually advised me he has been transported to the hospital. And I used to be identical to, what? What’s happening? And I simply broke down,” he continued.
The Zehring household mentioned he’d sustained extreme accidents, together with a bullet wound to the higher a part of his small gut and injury to his spinal wire, inflicting him to lose sensation from the waist down, in response to a GoFundMe web page. He’s undergone a number of surgical procedures and stays within the hospital.
Jeremy Zehring mentioned his son is “paying the last word value” as he struggles emotionally to try to determine what his future will appear like. It’s unclear whether or not Anakin Zhering will be capable to work alongside his father on the household’s electrical enterprise.
He advised JHB no mother or father ought to expertise what his household has, and mentioned his son needs he had by no means been on the Walmart that evening.
“It’s a devastating scenario,” Jeremy Zhering mentioned. “I do know he wished he might change again issues.”