Two teenagers from Lousiana were arrested last week, in an attack local police think could be linked to the infamous "knockout game."
Two Baton Rouge residents, 19-year-old Windall Herring and a 15-year-old whose identity has not yet been released, have been charged with second-degree murder, after the two teens reportedly struck and killed John Bannon, 55.
Bannon died last Friday, after suffering fatal injuries to the head including a fractured skull and brain hemorrhaging.
Police think the duo's assault could be related to the so-called "knockout game," a disturbing trend that calls for participants to deliver a single sucker-punch to a complete stranger on the street, leaving them out cold on the ground.
"During our investigation, we learned that the suspects were having a conversation about 'who could hit the hardest' when suddenly the victim was observed walking in close proximity to their location," Cpl. Don Coppola Jr. told The Daily Caller. "It was decided at that moment by the suspects that they were going to target the victim together and intentionally strike him with their fist to determine who, in fact, could hit the victim the hardest."
The duo allegedly assaulted Bannon near his Baton Rouge home on Feb. 1 at about 9:30 p.m. Eyewitnesses told police that the two teens ran from the scene immediately after punching the victim.
Although police believe the two teens might have been playing the "knockout game," there's one aspect of the assault that doesn't jive - it seems Herring and the juvenile asked Bannon if he had any items of worth on his person before punching him, which most "game" participants don't usually do. In almost every "knockout" case, the attackers simply run up, sock the victim, then flee, with no intentions to rob or steal.
As many as eight people have died from "knockout game"-related injuries. Most of the reported cases have occurred in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.
