According to the Los Angeles Times, Calvin Riley, 20, was fatally shot as he played the mobile game late Saturday in Aquatic Park, said Sgt. Robert Jansing of U.S. Park Police.
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Calvin Riley, 20, was playing Pokemon GO at Aquatic Park near the popular tourist destination around 10 p.m. on August 6, when he was gunned down, according to Sgt. Robert Jansing. Familiy friend John Kirby said, “It was just senseless, [the shooter] just came up and shot him in the back and ran away”. Authorities say Calvin Riley of San Mateo was shot at the bustling Aquatic Park in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, frequented by thousands of visitors each day, just before 10pm. However, as it was dark and the group were playing Pokemon they did not pay much attention to the stranger watching.
This is especially painful for the family because they moved to the Bay Area from a high-crime city on the East Coast for a better and safer life. The family says a memorial for Riley will be held on Thursday, August 11, with the viewing beginning at 6 p.m. and a vigil starting at 7 p.m.
If Calvin Riley was chosen to be killed truly at random by a thrill killer, odds are that he was targeted because he appeared to be an easy person to kill. He was studying kinesiology and was the closing freshman pitcher for the Delta College Mustangs in nearby Stockton. His baseball coach, Reed Peters, said in a statement that Riley was “a fun loving teammate that players loved to be around”.
The game has been credited with getting people off of their couches, but also has resulted in many unintended consequences, like muggings and vehicle crashes. “But all that was taken by a coward who wanted to shoot up a poke stop”. “Calvin was the kindest, happiest, and most lovable kid I had ever met”.
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A cousin from Massachusetts, Gabriel Antonio Morales, set up a GoFundMe page to help Riley’s family with expenses that had already surpassed its goal of $45,000 as of this afternoon. He possessed a great arm, great curveball, and a bulldog mentality that you loved to have with the game on the line.
