Kids and playing go hand in hand—sometimes literally. Most of the time, when they do play a game, it usually involves kids running, chasing, and hiding. They all tire themselves out, laugh themselves silly, and maybe the worst thing that happens is someone skins a knee or breaks a window. It’s all innocent fun.

However, there are rare instances when a kid’s game gets way out of hand, and the lawsuits start flying, the cops show up, or something even worse happens.

Here are 8 examples of kid’s games that got way out of hand.

See Also: 10 Bizarre Things People Have Done Over Video Games

8 British Bulldog Game Leads to Girl’s Death

British Bulldog is a rough and tumble game popular among elementary-aged school children. In it, one or two “bulldogs” stand alone in the middle of a large field. A line of runners face them and stand at one end of the field. The runners try to get to the other side without being caught by a “bulldog.” If they get caught, they turn into a “bulldog” and join the other “bulldogs” to try and stop the remaining runners. The game goes on until there is only one runner left—he or she is the winner.

In February of 2013, a group of children played British Bulldog outside Trafalgar Junior School in Twickenham, England. An 8-year-old girl named Freya James played a different game close by when she was accidentally struck by one of the boys playing British Bulldog. She fell, stomach down, onto a recycled wooden railway sleeper. The fall caused a laceration of her liver which lead to internal bleeding. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died.

Freya’s parents, Anekke and Nick James, talked of what a good-hearted girl she was, “Freya was an angel and was loved by everyone who had contact with her.” They added, “She was so strong and determined in everything she did and always tried to help those that struggled.”

Sometime later, Freya’s parents called for a ban of the game that took their daughter’s life, “I hope our daughter’s death will lead to a more widespread ban.”^[1]

7 Snowball Fight Turns Into Race Brawl

Cole Harbour District High School is located in the province of Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. Back in the winter of 1989, what started as a playful snowball fight between groups of grade 10 boys turned ugly as white students ended up fighting black students in a vicious brawl.

Apparently, the brawl was triggered when a, “…particularly large snowball showered one group with snow…”

Christa Webber, a grade 10 student at the time, who witnessed the brawl, said she saw a student’s face “…split open” from a punch and students getting kicked when they fell to the ground.

In the aftermath, 14 were charged, and the brawl led directly to the government of Nova Scotia creating the Black Learners Advocacy Committee. The committee, “…highlighted inequities in education for the African-Nova Scotian learner.” As well, “The BLAC report resulted in the hiring of cross-cultural understanding co-ordinators and African-Nova Scotian support workers in the province’s schools.”

30 years later, the brawl still haunts former Cole Harbour District High School student Corey Beals. Though he didn’t witness the brawl triggering snowball, Beals remains sad about the incident and feels it has had a lasting impact on the community, “Unfortunately, Cole Harbour has been scarred. Ever since. Thirty years later. And whenever there is an incident that takes place at that school, everyone reflects back to 1989.”^[2]

6 Dodgeball Leads to Felony

Dodgeball is a gym class staple. Use a ball to eliminate players on the opposing team by hitting them with it. The first team to hit all of the players on the other side with the game ball wins.

For Jacob Sigler and one other student of Ellsworth High School, that simple game turned into something much more ugly and much more complicated. The result was a facial fracture and a criminal complaint against Sigler.

According to the victim, who was 16 at the time, “When Jacob ran out of balls, Jacob closed his fist and punched (him) the face.”

When interviewed by police, Sigler, 18, said that he thought the other boy was going to tackle him. “Then, I punched him,” he told the police.

Months later, Sigler ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery. He was sentenced to 1 year probation and ordered to pay more than $1,300 in fines.^[3]

5 Hide-and-Seek Leads to Dead Body

Who hasn’t played hide-and-seek? A classic kid’s game that may go all the way back to the Greeks of the 2nd-century, hide-and-seek consists of one kid seeking and many kids hiding. After counting up from 1 to anywhere from 10 to 100, the seeker then goes out and tries to find the kids that hid. If found, that kid then becomes another seeker. The last kid left hiding is the winner. Simple and straightforward. Most of the time, yes, but every once-in-a-while, a kid seeking another kid, instead, finds something that turns the game into a crime scene.

Back in October of 2017, two kids were playing hide-and-seek in the wooded area of a park in Indianapolis, Indiana. There, in the midst of their bit of fun, one of them came across the dead body of 30-year-old Christopher Bradley. The kids immediately told an adult, who then alerted the police.

Detectives working the case believe that the death was suspicious.^[4]

4 Salt and Ice Challenge Burns

Most childhood games (including some on this list) have long histories and countless hours of enjoyment—like jumping rope, hide-and-seek, dodge ball, and kickball. While these are mostly harmless activities, kids and teens today have a new source for things to do to pass the time: TikTok. Unfortunately. TikTok, created in 2016, has recently become synonymous with something far more sinister: viral internet challenges.

Some of these idiotic—and sometimes dangerous and deadly—challenges include the cinnamon challenge, the Tide Pod challenge, and the salt and ice challenge. An Iowa woman learned about the last challenge the hard way after a horrific late-night phone call. Her daughter and several friends had tried an internet challenge that involved putting snow and table salt on their arms to see who could stand it the longest. The ice and salt formed a chemical reaction that induced frostbite, giving the girl and her friends second- and third-degree burns. They were taken to the hospital for treatment, where the doctor noted that he had seen several of these types of injuries in recent months.^[5]

3 Choking Game Claims Life of 12-Year-Old Boy

According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, from 1995 to 2007, at least 82 kids have died playing the Choking Game. 87% of them were boys aged 11 to 16. The average age was 13.

The point of the game is to go just far enough to get the “high” that follows after briefly squeezing off the supply of oxygen and blood to the brain. The game has a long history and also goes by the names “Pass-Out Challenge,” “Flatliner,” and “Space Monkey.”

One boy who went too far was Erik Robinson of Santa Monica, California. One day in April of 2010, he put a rope around his neck and hung himself from a pull up bar. He was only 12 years old.

His devastated mother, Judy Rogg, found her son collapsed in the kitchen doorway. “I missed him by a few minutes,” she said. Rogg tried to undo the complicated slipknots her son had tied but couldn’t. By the time she got help, it was too late.

In the wake of the tragedy, Rogg founded the non-profit “Erik’s Cause” to help educate other kids about the dangers of the game. She and her co-founder Stephanie Small spent years designing an 8-minute video and PowerPoint presentation now shown to kids in the Iron County School District in Utah. Iron County adopted the training program after 4 kids died in its district playing the Choking Game.

Rogg keeps the memory of her son close—some of his ashes are locked inside of a necklace she wears. She works tirelessly for “Erik’s Cause” and has travelled to speak in Pennsylvania, California, and Maryland. Rogg even flew all the way to New Jersey to help a family get through their own tragic loss from the Choking Game.

“This is the best way for me to preserve his legacy…I have to keep busy.”^[6]

2 Sack Tapping Game Leads to Testicle Removal

One night, a 14-year-old boy named David Gibbons woke his mother up at 1 am complaining of groin pain. Apparently, he had been playing a game called “Sack Tapping” with other boys at school that day. One boy punched him in the testicles so hard that it was still hurting badly.

His mother took him to the hospital, where doctors removed the boy’s right testicle. “This may be called a game, but it’s not a game,” the mom said. “It’s dangerous, and it needs to stop.”

Urologist Dr. Scott Wheeler told a Minneapolis TV station that he thought the problem had gotten “…way out of control.”

Dr. Charles Raison, an associate professor of psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, believes he knows why boys play the game, “Games like this are to see how tough you are…It’s a way of establishing dominance, and because it’s hard to withstand being hit in the groin, it becomes a good measure of toughness.”^[7]

1 Hot Dog Eating Contest Turns Fatal

Jason Easterly/Special to the Daily News
Owen Houston, 7, of Naples starts the kids “Neat Eat” during the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog qualifying circuit for their annual hot dog eating contest held at the Mercato on Saturday, May 12, 2012.

In January of 2010, the Boys & Girls Club of San Pedro in California held a fundraiser for Haiti relief—a devastating earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010. One of the activities was a hot dog eating game. Unfortunately, the fun turned deadly when one of the participants, 13-year-old Noah Thomas Akers started choking.

A male staff member performed the Heimlich maneuver, but it didn’t help. Paramedics arrived soon and tried to remove the obstructing piece of food using an extended pair of forceps. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful, and Noah later died in hospital.

Apparently, a staff member of the Boys & Girls Club did tell each child participating in the hot dog eating game to take their time and that it was not a game based on speed.

Lt. David McGill, of the Los Angeles Police Department, indicated that the initial investigation suggested that the children were appropriately supervised.^[8]

One of the best things about music is the unique impression it leaves on every listener. Everyone ends a song in a different mood, hearing different pieces, and with a different takeaway on what the song was truly about. Songwriters often use this narrative nebulousness to sneak in concepts they wouldn’t dare make plain. Whether through ambiguous wording, hidden and overlooked lyrics, or deceptively upbeat production, writers can get away with hiding a lot in their songs. And a lot of what they hide can be dark, dirty, or downright disturbing. Though plenty of songs make their ugliness their beauty and proudly show it off (looking at you, “Polly”), here are ten songs that hide something dark behind an innocent exterior.

10 Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind

This is a pretty well-known example of the ‘catchy melody/dark lyrics’ phenomenon, mainly because the darkness isn’t hidden at all within the lyrics. One read through the lyrics and you’ll know what truly lies beneath that absurdly earwormy chorus. It barely even uses metaphor. One line just reads, “Doing crystal myth will lift you up until you break.” 

But what’s notable is that still, so many people have no idea what “Semi-Charmed Life” is about. For many, probably most, the song is just that ‘doo doo doo, doo daDO doo” song. The fact that the song is so ubiquitous, having dug its way into virtually every pop, ’90s, and even some classic rock stations, makes it even easier for the meaning to hide in plain sight; it’s not often you take a close look at the thing that’s all around you all the time.

9 MMMBop by Hanson

Few songs are as hated as this one. And it won’t be defended here. But it is perhaps just a touch deeper than you would imagine. “MMMBop” tries its absolute hardest to get you to disregard its lyrics entirely, with a chorus that is essentially just a string of nonsense syllables (which only add to the band’s perception as baby-pop). I mean, the lyrics “Mmmbop / ba duba dop / Ba du bop / ba duba dop / Ba du bop / ba duba dop Ba du / oh yeah” don’t exactly invite you to pore over their every nuance. Side note: saying “oh yeah” at the end of that chorus is like spiking a football after being sacked for a ten-yard loss.

But the verse lyrics are not as Teletubby-ish as their choral companions. Some of the very first lines are “You have so many relationships in this life / Only one or two will last / You go through all the pain and strife / Then you turn your back and they’re gone so fast” and “When you get old and start losing your hair / Can you tell me who will still care?” Yikes.

8 Beautiful by James Blunt

Most people think “Beautiful” is just another on-the-nose saccharine love song like “When I See You Smile” and “You Were Meant For Me.” This is primarily because the song’s not-so-dynamic nature encourages listeners to tune in and out, only hearing a few select lines. “I saw an angel” …something… She smiled at me on the subway…” …something something… “You’re beautiful / You’re beautiful / You’re beautiful, it’s true.”

James Blunt actually hates this half-listened misinterpretation, saying in an interview with the Huffington Post, “’You’re Beautiful’ is not this soft romantic f—g song. It’s about a guy who’s high as a f—g kite on drugs in the subway stalking someone else’s girlfriend when that guy is there in front of him, and he should be locked up or put in prison for being some kind of perv.” Reading through the lyrics, it’s clear that is, indeed, the narrative. But while the lyrics paint one picture, the song’s (semi)enduring reputation has painted another.

7 Hey Ya by Outkast

“Hey Ya” rules. Let’s get that out of the way. The song is an absolute bop and will be until the eventual heat death of the universe. “Hey Ya” took whatever love OutKast had built for themselves in the Atlanta hip hop scene and extended it out to the general music scene everywhere. Its infectious melodies, snap-along rhythms, and supremely inviting call-and-response components make the song a charismatic staple at karaoke, sing-a-longs, and even still in clubs. And with a chorus that mainly just repeats “Hey ya” again and again, most listeners find themselves content to enjoy the music without digging deeper.

Heck, it’s so catchy that even when you do discover the darker lyrics, you’re probably still too enamored to care. But they’re there, telling the story of a young couple unable to find happiness and unwilling to fix it. One verse reads, in part, “We get together / but separate’s always better when there’s feelings involved… Nothing lasts forever / Then what makes love the exception? / So why are we still in denial when we know we’re not happy here?”

6 Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People

“Pumped Up Kicks” is another catchy little number. Enough to make Foster the People a nearly-household name for a few years in the early 2010s. Though the band would never recapture its success, the song has survived well, still finding play often on pop radio and the background of every Gap. Perhaps its most appealing asset is the surprisingly simple bass walk-up/walk-down that underlies THE ENTIRE SONG. Seriously, it never changes by even a note. But that worked, and the song was a hit.

And yet, the entire song is about a mentally ill teenager who decides to commit a mass shooting at a school. “He found a six-shooter gun in his dad’s closet, in a box of fun things and I don’t even know what / But he’s coming for you, yeah, he’s coming for you” then “All the other kids with the pumped up kicks / You better run, better run, outrun my gun” and then “I’ve waited for a long time / Yeah, the slight of my hand is now a quick pull trigger.” Maybe a little too delicate a topic for a snappy radio hit.

5 Slide by Goo Goo Dolls

Have you ever heard the chorus to this song? It’s so sweet. “And I’ll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete / Little pieces of the nothing that fall / Oh, May, Put your arms around me / What you feel is what you are and what you are is beautiful / Oh, May, do you wanna get married or run away?” And you’d have to assume the verses are adorable, too. Then again, maybe not. 

“Don’t you love the life you killed? / The priest is on the phone, your father hit the wall, your ma disowned you / Don’t suppose I’ll ever know what it means to be a man / It’s something I can’t change. I’ll live around it.”

What in the…? According to writer Johnny Rzeznik, the song is about a young couple in a strict Catholic environment deciding whether to abort the child and if doing so would mean abuse and exile. Did I already use yikes? I should have saved yikes for here.

4 99 Luft Balloons by Nena

West German band Nena had a smash hit with their song “99 Luft Balloons.” So much so that it got American kids in the ’80s to sing with each other in German. And that is really the crux of why this song’s true meaning is hidden; millions of people became familiar with the original German version and then disregarded the later English translation. Even if they hadn’t, the English translation changes the original song’s meaning to obscure the actual story.

The German version tells an almost poetic narrative about a group of balloons that are misinterpreted as an aerial threat by fighter pilots, which cascades into a cold-war-esque game of nuclear chicken, eventually leading to a full nuclear holocaust that destroys the Earth and all human life. But hey, that Goldfinger cover is pretty rad.

3 I’ve Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash

About 99% of Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” suggests that it’s a simple novelty tune. It tells the story of a hitchhiker who regales a trucker about all the places he’s backpacked across the Americas. And it’s an impressive list; he’s been everywhere from the southern tip of South America to the syrup-strewn hockey rink of a country that is Canada, stopping at dozens of cities in-between, from tiny southern U.S. towns to major coastal cities.

It’s quite the life, the true dream of the nomad. Except for one itty-bitty tiny little detail. Stuck right at the end of a list of cities is the hitchhiker’s confession: “I’m a killer.” That makes it a bit more worrisome that he’s been everywhere.

2 You Are My Sunshine by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell (Probably)

One of the most famous lullabies and children’s songs, “You Are My Sunshine” is beloved for its simple melody and warm, innocuous lyrics. It’s the sonic version of getting a hug from grandma. It’s like fresh muffins for your ears. It’s sweet and loving, and that’s the end of the story.

That’s not the end of the story. Usually, only the chorus is sung, and when the verses reenter the picture, they change the song’s tone dramatically. “The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms / But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken so I hung my head and I cried.” That’s how the whole thing starts. The whole thing continues on in its self-pitying way, but one more verse bares typing: “I’ll always love you and make you happy, if you will only say the same / But if you leave me and love another, you’ll regret it all someday.” Nothing like the threat of murdering your ex to really round little Billy’s night-night song.

1 At Least It Was Here by The 88

You probably know this song as the theme to the tragically defunct NBC sitcom Community. Like almost every sitcom theme you can imagine, it pulls you in quickly with a light, romping melody that lends itself to being chopped into thirty-second bits. It’s airy and light, major-keyed, and lets its arrangement speak louder than its lyrics. In short, it does what sitcom themes do and feels good. Then you actually learn the lyrics. The full lyrics to the shortened-for-TV version are “Give me some rope, tie me to dream / Give me the hope to run out of steam
 / Somebody said it can be here / We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year / But I can’t count the reasons I should stay / One by one they all just fade away.” In practically any context, combining ‘rope’ and ‘not having any reason to stick around’ is a recipe for tragedy. And I’m not even touching the ‘tied up and dead’ part. Somehow that was the lead-in for pillow forts and paintballs.

Whether we choose to admit it or not, we have all made mistakes at one time or another. Even though these errors help us learn and grow along the way, that also does not mean we are immune to future mistakes.

A childhood mistake might consist of something simple such as forgetting to put away your toys or failing to turn in your homework, whereas an adult mistake might be something a bit more serious such as forgetting to lock the doors to your home or accidentally leaving the stove on. Yet regardless of the error, we are faced with some sort of disciplinary action or punishment as a result of our oversight.

However, we typically would not equate being shot at or losing our life as a “punishment” for something as simple as a mistake. We also certainly would not assume that our error in judgment might take another’s life. Unfortunately, this was the sad reality for those on this list.

Here are ten times a seemingly innocent mistake led to a tragic outcome.

Related: Top 10 Stupid Mistakes That Ended A Serial Killer’s Career

9 Getting into the Wrong Car

In the early morning hours of April 18, 2023, 18-year-old Payton Washington, 21-year-old Heather Roth, and two other young women were heading home from cheerleading practice at Woodlands Elite Cheer Co. in Oak Ridge North, Texas.

Given that the young women had to travel approximately 360 miles (579 kilometers) round-trip three times a week for their competitive cheerleading practice, they used the H-E-B supermarket in Elgin, Texas, as a meeting place and then carpooled together.

When the women arrived back at the H-E-B parking lot, Roth exited her friend’s car and opened the door to a vehicle she believed was hers. Unfortunately, Roth noticed a man sitting in the passenger seat. Assuming a stranger was in her car, Roth panicked and promptly exited the vehicle, getting back into her friend’s car.

The person in the mistaken car then got out and approached the young women. Roth rolled down her window and attempted to apologize for the mix-up, but the man “threw his hands up, pulled out a gun, and started shooting.”

Washington was unfortunately shot in the leg and back during the altercation, causing damage to multiple organs. She was taken to a local hospital by helicopter, where she underwent surgery to remove her ruptured spleen. Roth suffered a graze wound and was treated and released at the scene.

The suspect, 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., was taken into custody and charged with deadly conduct.^[1]

9 Misplaced DoorDash Order

On September 8, 2022, 20-year-old Fernando Soloman of Conyers, Georgia, placed an order with DoorDash. However, when the DoorDash driver arrived, Solomon’s food was delivered to the wrong duplex unit and left next door.

Naturally assuming there was a simple way to rectify the mistake, Soloman went next door to retrieve his food. Sadly, not only would Soloman never receive his food, but he also would never make it back home.

When Soloman arrived next door, one of the residents, 44-year-old Zaire Watson Sr., received a Ring camera notification on his cell phone. Given that he was not home at the time, he called his son, Zaire Cortell Watson Jr., who was at home at the time. Watson Jr. stated he then saw Soloman reach into his pocket, so he opened the door and shot him.

Deputies were later dispatched to the scene and found Soloman on the ground bleeding from gunshot wounds. The deputies attempted to perform first aid and stop the blood flow until EMS arrived, but Soloman died on the scene.

Watson Jr. was detained at the scene and admitted to the shooting. He was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault, murder, and felony murder.^[2]

8 Incorrect Use of Pesticide

In an attempt to kill mice, Peter Balderas spread Weevil-Cide pellets—a fumigant used against destructive pests and burrowing rodents—underneath the mobile home he shared with his wife Martha and their eight children in Amarillo, Texas.

Balderas obtained the heavily-regulated commercial-grade pesticide from a friend, Isidro Ulloa, who was not a licensed fumigator and did not inform Balderas about the product. Unfortunately, the directions were solely in English, so Balderas, who is a native Spanish speaker and cannot read English, was unable to read the product instructions and was unaware of the deadly gas the pesticide creates if misused.

Therefore, when someone in the home complained about the smell of the pesticide, Balderas crawled underneath his home and attempted to simply wash away the Weevil-Cide with water from a garden hose. Weevil-Cide reacts when it is mixed with moisture, so in doing so, Balderas unknowingly released phosphine gas.

On January 2, 2017, a friend went to the Balderas’s home and called 911 after finding everyone sick.

Sadly, four of the Balderas children—three boys aged 7, 9, and 11, and a 17-year-old girl—died due to “complications of acute aluminum phosphide (phosphine gas) exposure” as well as pulmonary edema, one on scene and the other three at the hospital. Balderas and his other four children were hospitalized for several days, and Martha spent weeks in intensive care but survived.

The Balderases went on to file a wrongful death lawsuit against United Phosphorus, the maker of Weevil-Cide, given the lack of adequate bilingual instructions and warnings. They also named Ulloa in the lawsuit.^[3]

7 Pulling into the Wrong Driveway

On April 15, 2023, 19-year-old Blake Walsh, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis—his girlfriend of four years—and two other friends were traveling together in search of a party that was being held by local high school graduates in Hebron, New York. An additional group of friends—one in a car and one on a motorcycle—were also traveling with Walsh’s Ford Explorer to the party.

Just before 10 pm, the group drove up the driveway of a residence where they assumed the party was. Unfortunately, given the rural area, lack of cell service, and poorly lit driveways, it wasn’t until later that the group of friends realized they were at the wrong location.

Sadly, even though no one in the group exited the vehicle or attempted to enter the property, as they began to turn around and leave, the property owner, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan, who “had a reputation as a sour character who did not like visitors,” fired two shots from his front porch.

Gillis was in the front passenger seat, and given that Walsh’s SUV was the last vehicle to turn around, one of the bullets entered through the rear driver’s side, striking Gillis in the neck.

Walsh drove for approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) in search of cell service before reaching the neighboring town of Salem and being able to call 911. Emergency responders arrived and attempted to perform CPR on Gillis, but she was unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene.

When police arrived at Monahan’s residence, he was initially uncooperative, refusing to speak with investigators, stating he had been “in bed since 8:30 pm.” and blaming the gunfire on hunters. However, after an hour of authorities communicating with him both in person and through a 911 dispatcher, Monahan was taken into custody early the next day and was charged with second-degree murder, reckless endangerment, and tampering with evidence.

Monahan’s lawyer later issued a statement regarding the shooting that said, “The vehicles speeding up the driveway with engines revving and lights shining certainly caused some level of alarm to an elderly gentleman who had an elderly wife” and that Mr. Monahan “sincerely regrets this tragedy.”^[4]

6 Mistaken for a Car Thief

On December 31, 2022, 30-year-old Quadarius McDowell took his car to the Tires Plus shop in Decatur, Georgia, in order to have brake work done on the vehicle. However, when McDowell returned to pick up his vehicle, tragedy unfolded.

Upon his return, McDowell saw 24-year-old Daniel Gordon driving his vehicle in the parking lot. Gordon was a mechanic at the Tires Plus location and was simply taking the car for a test drive. Sadly, McDowell assumed Gordon was trying to steal his vehicle and began firing multiple shots, hitting Gordon, and then fleeing the scene on foot.

Gordon was taken to a local hospital but did not survive. McDowell was found hiding nearby a short time later and was arrested. He was charged with malice murder.^[5]

5 Knocking on the Wrong Apartment Door

Nineteen-year-old Omarion Banks and his girlfriend, Zsakeria Mathis, had just moved into a new apartment in Atlanta, Georgia. Banks had been visiting his mother, so in the early morning hours of March 29, 2019, Mathis sent a Lyft to pick up Banks and bring him home.

Unfortunately, the Lyft driver dropped Banks off near the wrong breezeway, and since he wasn’t familiar with the area, he ended up knocking on the wrong apartment door.

While Banks eventually began to walk away from the door, the resident of the apartment, 32-year-old Darryl Bynes, grabbed his gun before heading out on his balcony to confront Banks. From there, a verbal exchange ensued between the two, and even though Banks tried to apologize before fleeing down the stairs, Bynes fired his gun three times, striking Banks twice in the neck.

Bynes then called 911 and told the dispatcher he fired in self-defense, assuming Banks was trying to break into his apartment. First responders were sent to the complex, but even with both EMTs and neighbors attempting to provide medical attention to Banks, he died on the scene.

Bynes was charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree criminal property damage, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. On July 18, 2023, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years.^[6]

4 Basketball Rolling into Neighbor’s Yard

April 18, 2023, initially seemed like a normal spring evening. William James White was grilling and his six-year-old daughter Kinsley was playing with friends and riding her bike while another group of kids played a game of basketball in their Crowders Mountain, North Carolina, neighborhood.

At some point during the game, the basketball rolled into 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary’s yard. However, as the children went to retrieve the ball, Singletary began yelling at them. One of the children then told his father what happened, and the father went to Singletary’s house to confront him. But the confrontation only fueled Singletary’s anger. Singletary went inside his home, got a gun, and came out of the door running, opening fire on the neighbors.

White then stepped in and attempted to round up the neighborhood children and get them to safety. Given the dangerous behavior, White then approached Singletary and told him there were too many children outside for him to be shooting. White’s comment did not sit well with Singletary, who dropped the gun he was holding, grabbed another, and began firing at White and his daughter Kinsley.

After three shots, White saw Singletary point his gun straight at Kinsley, and as White ran to shield her from the gunfire, he was shot in the back. The bullet punctured one of his lungs and liver before exiting from his belly. The shrapnel from the bullet then lodged in Kinsley’s cheek. Singletary went on to fire three more times before fleeing the scene.

Upon hearing the gunshots, Carl Hilderbrand, Kinsley’s grandfather, instructed neighbors to call 911. White was taken to a local hospital and later flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, before being released on April 22, 2023. Kinsley was taken to the emergency room, where she was treated.

On April 20, 2023, Singletary, who had made it all the way to Tampa, Florida, turned himself in and was later extradited to North Carolina. He faces four charges of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflict serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a felon.^[7]

3 Choosing Wrong Hiding Spot During Hide and Seek Game

On May 7, 2023, an unidentified 14-year-old girl was among a group of juveniles that were playing hide and seek in a Starks, Louisiana, neighborhood. However, the children made the unfortunate mistake of playing hide and seek in a neighbor’s backyard and hiding on the property.

Therefore, when the property owner, 58-year-old David V. Doyle, observed “shadows outside his home,” he went to retrieve his firearm. Although the children meant no harm, when Doyle saw people running away from his property, he began firing at them, unknowingly hitting the 14-year-old girl in the back of the head.

Deputies were called to the scene, and the teenager was transported to an out-of-town hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Her family later stated she was “okay and recovering.”

Doyle was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and illegal discharge of a firearm.^[8]

2 Mistaken Identity

Thirty-six-year-old Kerisha Johnson of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was nine months pregnant and days away from giving birth to her third daughter.

Tragically, on April 16, 2023, as Johnson was picking people up from an Easter “teen party,” several people pulled out guns before pointing them at Johnson’s vehicle and opening fire. Johnson attempted to flee the scene but was struck, killing both her and her unborn baby.

The shooters had encountered a vehicle earlier in the night that fired a round into the air as they drove past the party. Unfortunately, when Johnson arrived, they mistook her white sedan for the vehicle that had driven by earlier and began shooting at her before fleeing the scene.

Nineteen-year-old Marques Porch was later located by police, along with several other passengers. Porch, along with nineteen-year-old Gregory Parker and 19-year-old Derrick Curry, were all arrested and charged with second-degree murder and first-degree feticide. Porch, who provided firearms to the other two teens, was employed by the Department of Corrections as a transportation driver but was “terminated immediately.”

Nineteen-year-old Desmond Robinson and 18-year-old Torey Campbell were also later arrested for their involvement in the shooting and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree feticide.^[9]

1 Went to the Wrong House to Pick Up Siblings

On April 13, 2023, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl’s mother asked him to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend’s house located at Northeast 115th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri. However, Yarl had never been to the home before and accidentally arrived at the wrong address—Northeast 115th Street.

Unaware of his mistake, Yarl naturally pulled his car into the driveway before walking up the steps and ringing the doorbell. After waiting “a long time,” 84-year-old Andrew Lester opened the door but pulled out a gun, aiming directly at Yarl. Yarl stated Lester then told him, “Don’t ever come here again,” before pulling the trigger, hitting Yarl in the head and the right arm.

Despite his injuries, Yarl went to multiple homes, shouting for help until someone finally answered and agreed to contact the police. Yarl was taken to the hospital, and although he survived, he suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Lester was detained for less than two hours the night of the shooting but turned himself in approximately one week later. Regarding the shooting, Lester claimed he was scared and “believed someone was attempting to break into the house” after seeing a “black male approximately 6 feet [1.8 meters] tall.”

Lester was charged with felony first-degree assault and armed criminal action but pleaded not guilty to the charges. On April 18, 2023, Lester was released on bond pending his preliminary hearing in August 2023.

Given that the shooting happened in the neighborhood where Yarl lived, he initially went to live with his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, before his family eventually relocated to another area.^[10]