Thugs Picked the Wrong Dad to Target for Shameful 'Knockout Game' -- He's a Concealed-Carry Permit Holder, and He Used It

TheBlaze has been covering the frightening uptick in the so-called "knockout game," in which thugs randomly target people and punch the unsuspecting victims in public for kicks.

Well, it's taken an interesting turn in Lansing, Mich.

There it's reportedly called "Point-em-out, Knock-em-out," according to WILX-TV in Lansing, and the station said one incident didn't turn out so well...for the attacker.

Examples of others playing the "knockout game." (Image source: WILX-TV)

Examples of others playing the "knockout game." (Image source: WILX-TV)

The incident actually happened in February but is now getting play because of the recent rash of attacks. On that day, the school day was over, and a father was waiting for a school bus to drop off his six-year-old girl.

"I saw the van circle twice and the second time three came out," the victim told WILX, which didn't reveal his identity out of concern for his safety. "I didn't suspect anything. I hadn't any enemies, or any reason to believe that they would be looking or doing anything to me."

Marvell Weaver, 17, apparently had other ideas.

"He shoved something into my side," the victim said of Weaver. "I wasn't sure what it was. It had some force to it. I wasn't sure if it was a knife or a gun."

It was a taser. One that fortunately didn't work.

What did operate just fine, however, was the victim's concealed-carry .40 caliber pistol.

Image source: WILX-TV

The intended victim shot Weaver twice, once in the leg and the other shot landing an inch away from his spine in the February 26 incident. WILX says Weaver has since been sentenced to a year in jail.

It could have been worse, and Weaver even admits he's getting off easy.

"It was just a lesson learned. I wish I hadn't played the game at all," Weaver told the news outlet, adding that before he met his match with the gun-wielding dad, he and his friends attacked others.

"Not many, six or seven," Weaver told WILX. "It wouldn't be an everyday game, just a certain game to be played on certain days. You don't even try to rob them or anything. That's the game."

Weaver added that "Point-em-out, Knock-em-out" isn't gang related, and teens are playing it because they're bored — and watching others on the Internet getting away with it inspired confidence.

He added that he played the game usually as a result of dares from unseemly kids while high.

Marvell Weaver (Image source: WILX)

"They weren't my normal group of friends. Someone just throws it out there and people go along with it," Weaver told the station. "One thing leads to another and it just goes all down hill."

Lansing police are watching for others playing "Point-em-out, Knock-em-out," WILX noted, adding that an attack could be considered a felony:

"There's a price to pay if they wind up doing it," Lansing Police Officer Robert Merritt told WILX. "A good example is Marvell Weaver."

"It's just senseless. Teenagers have a lot better things to do with their time," Merritt.

Weaver's victim sees nothing humorous about knockout games. "What they tried to do to me wouldn't have been a joke if they would've succeeded," he told the news outlet. "My child would've been left with the aftermath of seeing her father in any type of way I would've been left."

(H/T: Capitol City Project)

This story has been updated.

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