Back in January, we reported on the tragic case of Jiansheng Chen, a 60-year-old Virginia resident who was playing Pokemon Go in his family’s Chesapeake neighborhood when he was shot and killed by what was supposed to be an unarmed security guard.
More details have since come to light, as reported by local news. The shooter, a 21-year-old man named Johnathan Cromwell, has been charged with second degree murder and use of a firearm and was denied bond by the judge this week. State attorneys allege that Cromwell “confronted” Chen while Chen was seated in his car parked at the neighborhood clubhouse, a known Pokemon Go gym. Cromwell allegedly positioned his vehicle in front of Chen’s, exited his car, yelled stop, fired one bullet into the car at Chen, then moved to the other side of the vehicle and fired seven more, hitting the elderly man, who was of Chinese descent and spoke little English, a total of five times.
Cromwell’s lawyers assert that their client acted in self-defense and that Chen had previously been asked to stay away from the neighborhood clubhouse after dark.
