The Knockout Game is a disturbing trend emerging among teens in the US. A group of teens, get together and punch random passersby on streets. Their aim is to knock people out cold in a single punch. The singular move is termed the ‘one-hitter-quitter’.

Incidents of the Knockout Game have been reported throughout the US, mostly from the New York metro area and Washington. Media reports suggest that the elderly and women with children are not exempt from this brutal game. Some reporters think that the crimes have a motive; almost all the victims seem to be white, Asian, Jews, homosexuals, and sometimes even vegan. Earlier this month, CBS covered the Knockout Game in detail. One teen told reporters, “You just knock them out. You hit them with a blow and you take their belongings.” While some say that they participate simply for the fun of it, others are wannabe tough guys who want to test their strength.

One of the most recent victims of the game was Phoebe Connolly from Washington D.C. As she was riding her bike in the Columbia Heights section, a teen rushed up to her and punched her face with brute force. “My whole head went flying to the side,” she said. “One kid came from the side and pretty much cut me off. He threw a hook with his left hand and got me right in the face and he said, ‘Wapow!’”

Photo: Rob

Independent news website WND has reported hundreds of examples of the Knockout Game in the US over the last two years. Many crimes like these have been documented before, but law enforcement officials are just now realizing the pattern and linking them up to the Knockout Game.

In September of this year, 46-year-old Ralph Santiago was found dead with a broken neck and his head stuck between two fence spikes in Hoboken. Hoang Nguyen, a 72-year-old Vietnamese Immigrant, died from the same game in April 2011. He was attacked while walking home from a store, according to the St. Louis Patch-Dispatch. In relation to this crime, 20-year-old Elex Murphy was convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

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The game appears to have many versions. In Lansing, Michigan, a few kids attempted it using a taser. While the taser misfired, the victim’s gun did not. He managed to wound the attacker. At the University of Illinois in Champaign, the game is called Polar Bear Hunting.

Teens who play the Knockout Game do not stop at just punching people. They record the sport live and put up videos on Facebook to show off their strength. According to a CNN report, families of the boys arrested for this crime insist that they were just playing a “prank that got out of hand”.

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Whatever the intention behind it, I think the whole idea of the Knockout Game is sick and twisted. Getting punched in the head when you least expect it is horrible. I hope these kids realize what they’re doing and put a stop to it soon.

Sources: WND, NY Daily News