Man allegedly shot teenage girl after 'senior assassin' prank involving daughter

A Kansas teenager was left paralyzed from the waist down after another teen's father shot him in the middle of a game of “senior assassin,” according to law enforcement documents released this week .

Ruben Marcus Contreras, a man in his 40s, was arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with a May 11 shooting at a Walmart parking lot in the town of Goddard. Sedgwick County deputies said he shot Anakin Zehring, 18, after Zehring and his friends shot his daughter with a gel gun, a toy gun that uses pellets made from water, according to an affidavit released Wednesday and obtained by HuffPost.

Contreras' attorney did not respond to HuffPost's request for comment. He was released on bail after his arrest.

“Senior Assassin” is a game played by high school students nationwide, in which students are given a “target” and tasked with eliminating them with a water gun or balloon until only one remains. only one player. Many teenagers consider it a rite of passage, but in recent years, school officials and police have warned against the practice, fearing that players will go too far; a 16-year-old in Pennsylvania collapsed and died after a game-related chase last month.

On the night of May 11, Zehring drove his blue Chevrolet Spark to the local Walmart, accompanied by two other teenagers. According to the affidavit, Contreras' daughter and her boyfriend were walking toward the Walmart as Zehring and his friends walked past them. One of the boys inside Zehring's car shouted, “I'm your main assassin” and shot him with the gel gun.

The boyfriend of Contreras' daughter told deputies that neither he nor Contreras' daughter knew who the teens were and went to confront them. One of the teens allegedly called her boyfriend a “bitch” and told him to meet them in the back.

The couple called Contreras to tell him they had been shot with gel guns, and the boyfriend said the other three boys were “trying to beat him up,” according to the affidavit.

Shortly after, Contreras arrived at the Walmart parking lot and walked toward Zhering's Spark “angrily,” according to a Walmart employee interviewed by law enforcement.

Contreras then allegedly pulled a black handgun from his waist and fired a bullet through the rear window of the car into Zehring's back, according to one of the boys in Zhering's car, according to the affidavit. As Zehring lost all feeling in his legs, the car crashed into a shipping container in the parking lot.

Contreras told a bystander who rushed to the teen's aid that “they shot my daughter” several times, according to the affidavit. Authorities found Zehring screaming and stating he couldn't move his legs.

Anakin Zhering's father, Jeremy Zehring, confirmed to HuffPost that a good Samaritan rushed to his son.

“He took off his own shirt and held the wound closed so the bleeding was contained and prayed for my son until the paramedics arrived,” Jeremy Zehring told HuffPost.

He and his wife saw a Facebook post saying there had been a shooting at Walmart. They then checked a GPS tracker on their son's car and saw he was there.

“So I started calling and it went straight to voicemail, and I started to panic so I looked at my wife and I said, 'We have to go,'” he said. declared.

“I saw his car, completely ruined, and they told me he had been taken to the hospital. And I said to myself: what? What is going on? And I just broke down,” he continued.

The Zehring family said he suffered serious injuries, including a gunshot wound to his upper small intestine and damage to his spinal cord, causing him to lose all feeling from the waist down, according to a GoFundMe page . He has undergone several surgeries and remains in hospital.

Jeremy Zehring said his son was “paying the ultimate price” as he struggled emotionally to try to figure out what his future would look like. It is unclear whether Anakin Zhering will be able to work alongside his father in the family electrical business.

He told HuffPost that no parent should have to go through what his family is going through and that his son wishes he had never gone to Walmart that night.

“It’s a devastating situation,” Jeremy Zhering said. “I know he wishes he could have changed things.”