College Student Killed While Playing 'Pokémon Go' at S.F.'s Aquatic Park

A 20-year-old student and baseball player at a community college in Stockton was shot and killed Saturday night while playing "Pokémon Go" at Aquatic Park near Ghirardelli Square, authorities say.

A family friend, John Kirby, told KGO-TV that Calvin Riley, 20, was playing the mobile game with a friend when someone shot him and fled.

"From what we know, there was no confrontation," Kirby said. "There was nothing said back and forth. It was just senseless."

Kirby said Riley and his friend had noticed someone watching them from the top of a hill that overlooks the park, but it was dark and they were mostly looking at their cellphones.

Sgt. Robert Jansing, a detective with the U.S. Park Police, said the gunman did not take any of Riley's belongings or try to rob him. Police say Riley was shot in the torso.

National Park Service spokesman Lynn Cullivan said investigators believe there are witnesses to the attack because it happened in an area frequented by tourists. They are seeking information from the public.

Riley graduated from high school in San Mateo and pitched for the baseball team at San Joaquin Delta College.

"It's a huge loss to everyone," the school's head coach, Reed Peters, told KGO-TV. "He was a great kid, a great competitor."

"I know you moved out [to California] to pursue your dreams of one day making it to the league and you had all the mechanics, talent and dedication to make your dreams a reality," wrote friend Gabriel Antonio Morales on a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of Riley's family. "But all that was taken by a coward who wanted to shoot up a Poké stop."

It's unclear whether the attack had anything to do with "Pokémon Go," which has become a national sensation this summer as legions of fans visit real-world landmarks in a hunt for digital creatures.

But the game's popularity has created unintended consequences in everyday life.

Property owners complain of players trespassing or damaging their grounds, and scores of players have been injured or robbed as they stare at their phones and try to track cartoon monsters.

Law enforcement officials have warned about the game's possible dangers, saying players can become engrossed in it and tune out their surroundings.