Woman charged after Pokemon Go players shot at with pellet gun in Newmarket: police

A 29-year-old woman has been charged after police allege she shot a pellet gun at Pokemon Go players from the roof of a building north of Toronto.

York Regional Police said four people were playing the game near Main Street South and Water Street in Newmarket around 10:30 p.m. Saturday when someone opened fire.

Police said witnesses reported a woman was on the roof of a nearby two-storey apartment building with a “handgun-style” pellet gun, and fired at least four shots.

No one was struck and there were no injuries. Const. Andy Pattenden said two of the Pokemon players were 19 years old.

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Police said officers arrested a woman at an apartment in the building and seized a pellet gun.

Patricia Champagne, of Newmarket, is charged with assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. She is due in court Aug. 26.

York police said they’ve received several calls from concerned citizens about groups of people walking around in the region, but that most of them were just playing the popular smartphone game.

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Pattenden said the downtown location of Saturday night’s incident is a “meeting place” for the game and as a result has seen the number of people hanging around increase significantly since the app’s release earlier this month.

“They’re congregating there catching Pokemons,” he said.

Share this on X Click to share quote on X: "They're congregating there catching Pokemons," he said.

Police are reminding players to be aware of their surroundings while hunting the virtual creatures and to not run afoul of trespassing laws.

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Pattenden said there have so far been no injuries of people playing the game in York region nor have police been called to remove players who wandered onto private property.

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