This past weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a young girl was shot and killed while playing Pokémon GO. Twenty-one-year-old Cayla Campos was playing Niantic's popular app with her boyfriend when they happened to witness an armed robbery in progress. Campos was shot to death shortly after. Police are currently studying surveillance footage to see if they can identify the killer.
According to local station KRQE, Campos was driving with her boyfriend, Sidney, near Bianchetti Park around midnight when they observed two unidentified individuals committing a robbery. The assailants were shooting at another unidentified car when Campos proceeded to drive away. As she was fleeing, multiple shots were fired in her direction, striking her in the back of the neck. Her vehicle subsequently crashed into a nearby home.
Surveillance footage was provided by Mary and Kane Light, a couple that lives four doors down from where the incident occurred. Mary told the police, "We saw on the cameras the car driving through the park right in front of our house. Even in a nice, quiet family neighborhood like this, there will be dangers and violence happening all the time. It's scary."
Campos' close friend, Cody Bell, told KRQE, "Her and her boyfriend always make a loop around this park before they go home and play Pokémon GO because their apartment is literally right there." Fighting back tears, he reminisced about his late friend and explained how they had been close for around eight years.
"She has helped me through everything, and she has always been there. Now, she is gone." Bell had met Campos at Eldorado High School and the two became fast friends. He explained how Campos had a dream of becoming a dentist in the future. "Just knowing that I am never going to see her again or talk to her...I am just sorry that her life was taken away so soon."
Campos' family primarily lived in Arizona, though they are now in Albuquerque due to the accident. The family wishes for privacy at the moment. Police have not currently revealed a suspect, though they do believe the vehicles involved in the crime were a red Ford Mustang and a silver four-door sedan. Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact the Albuquerque Police Department at (505) 242-COPS.
Source: KRQE