Las Vegas Pokemon Go Trainer fends off robbery with his Concealed Carry Pistol

Photo courtesy of pokemon.com

Pokemon Go. Odds are by now, you have either downloaded the new free app to your phone, or certainly know somebody who has. The game, which works with a GPS and pedometer in your phone, has taken the whole world by storm. It allows players to enter a virtual world that is layered over the real world and is filled with Pokemon for players to catch and battle with. Perhaps the greatest thing about the game, is its ability to get a normally sedentary crowd of people, in video gamers, to get up and about and explore the towns and cities that they live in.

Now, while exercise and getting some extra steps in is not a bad thing, there are, of course some situations that can arise from people exploring areas that are a little foreign to them. Situations like what happened in Las Vegas on July 25th.

Early in the morning of the 25th six young Pokemon Go players were seeing what Gary Reese Freedom Park had to offer, in terms of the digital creatures. As they wandered through the park, 18 year old Elvis Campos, along with an unnamed driver pulled up to the group in an SUV and demanded the group’s money and possessions, at gunpoint. However, rather than give up the possessions, one of the Pokemon trainers decided to put up a fight.

Photo courtesy of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

What Elvis and his accomplice were unaware of, was that one of the group members had a concealed carry license, and decided to not go down without a fight. He drew his weapon and fired at Elvis. This caused a small firefight to ensue and Campos, along with one of the players ended up being shot in the fight.

Both Campos’ driver and the group of Pokemon players were taking their wounded to the hospital. The young trainer’s injuries were confirmed to be non-life threatening, and will soon be released from the hospital at the time of writing this piece. However Campos will not get off so lucky. As the driver pulled up in a vehicle that was already under police lookout, when arriving at the hospital, Campos was sent in for treatment on his gunshot, which was also a success, but he, nor the driver were sent home after their visit. Campos and the driver were both taken to jail after their time in the hospital. Campos faces charges of conspiracy, robbery, battery, and assault with a deadly weapon.

It’s obvious that this situation could have been a lot worse if not for the quick thinking of our concealed carry Pokemon trainer. His actions saved six people from being robbed and perhaps worse. It was a shame that one of his friends was caught in the crossfire, but perhaps those who prey on innocent people who want to play a game will think twice before doing it in Las Vegas, knowing that some Pokemon Go players are armed with more than pokeballs.