Could This Random Shreveport Attack Part Of An Online Meme?
Violence has been surging across the Shreveport area in 2021. The metrics for violent crimes, including shootings and assaults, have been making headlines for months. But often police say those crimes happen between individuals who know one another personally, and are not random acts of violence.
But now there's a different type of violent crime that appears to be completely random in Shreveport. Over the weekend, a Shreveport resident witnessed a man run up to another, a complete stranger, and punch him in the face before running away.
This happened in the parking lot of the Wendy's on Pines Road in Shreveport. The witness posted his description of the events on social media, along with some pictures of the suspect.
As the mans describes the scenario, he says that he watched as a man walked to his vehicle, talking on a phone and carrying a bag of food from inside. As he approached the car, with his family inside, a random man ran up and punched the man in the face.
According to the witness, the suspect struck the man hard enough to draw blood, but did not knock the man unconscious.
The account of the story says Wendy's employees rushed out to check on the victim. Once they realized the victim was stable, the man who posted the story online says he approached the suspect with his phone filming him. When they made it into the nearby WalMart parking lot, the witness says that the suspect bragged that he already "got 4" that morning playing "The Knockout Game".
According to the long post from the witness, Shreveport Police were contacted, and he says they came to the Wendy's location. But in his post he says they stayed in the parking lot, and never pursued the suspect.
The witness posted multiple pictures of the suspect on his social media page as well.
The origins of "The Knockout Game" date all the way back to the early 1990s, when an MIT student died as a result of the "game". The concept is that an individual will attempt to knock an unknowing person unconscious with a sucker punch. The game became a popular news story in 2011, and media coverage surrounding it was criticized for the depiction of it. However even with media outlets being criticized for the coverage, multiple people have died as a result of the game. With some sentenced to life in prison for killing someone while playing.
It's currently unknown if this is part of a growing trend to watch for in Shreveport, or an isolated individual who is playing "The Knockout Game". Either way, be aware that someone is punching random people on Shreveport's west side.