The object is to target unsuspecting pedestrians with the intention of knocking them out cold with one punch. But the game has turned deadly recently on at least two occasions.
In New York, a 78-year-old woman strolling in her neighborhood was punched in the head by a stranger and tumbled to the ground. In Washington, a 32-year-old woman was swarmed by teenagers on bikes, and one clocked her in the face. In Jersey City, a 46-year-old man died after someone sucker-punched him and he struck his head on an iron fence.
In each case, police are investigating whether the attacks are part of a violent game called “knockout,” where the object is to target unsuspecting pedestrians with the intention of knocking them out cold with one punch. Authorities and psychologists say the concept has been around for decades — or longer — and it’s played mostly by impulsive teenage boys looking to impress their friends.
“It’s hard to excuse this behavior, there’s no purpose to this,” said Jeffrey Butts, a psychologist specializing in juvenile delinquency at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “When someone runs into a store and demands money, you can sort of understand why they’re doing it, desperation, whatever. But just hitting someone for the sheer thrill of seeing if you can knock someone out is just childish.”
At least two deaths have been linked to the game this year and police have seen a recent spike in similar attacks.
Victim: 'I don't know what the goal was'One victim, Phoebe Connolly, of Brattleboro, Vt., said she was randomly punched in the face by a teenager while riding her bike during a work-related visit to Washington last Friday.
Connolly, who is 32 and works with teenagers in her job, said the blow knocked her head to the side and bloodied her nose.
“I don’t know what the goal was,” she said. “There wasn’t any attempt to take anything from me.”
While some of those attacked have been white, and some suspected attackers black, experts said the incidents are more about preying on the seemingly helpless than race or religion.
Game suspected in Phila. suburbs, Jersey City, N.J.
“We do worry that it’s something like that ... because we’ve had two similar assaults, neither one of which resulted in a robbery,” said Lt. Frank Higgins, of the Lower Merion Township Police Department.
In one, two 19-year-olds were charged with knocking down a 63-year-old man out walking his dog the evening of Oct. 29.
In September in Jersey City, N.J., two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old were charged as juveniles in the murder of 46-year-old Ralph Eric Santiago. He was found Sept. 10 with his neck broken and his head wedged between iron fence posts. Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Gene Rubino has said prosecutors believe the teens were playing the game.
Legislator proposes penaltiesJuvenile delinquency experts say a good punishment for these teens would be empathy training, such as volunteering at a homeless shelter. But a New York lawmaker proposed a bill this week that would make stricter sentences not only for those who do the punching, but for those who publish images online and watch the attacks.
“These twisted and cowardly thugs are preying on innocent bystanders and they don’t care if the victims are young, old, a man or woman,” GOP state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco said. “Life isn’t a video game. These are real people whose lives are not only being put in jeopardy but in many cases destroyed.”
