Teen Paralyzed After Kansas Man Shoots Him at Walmart Following Water Gun Game

A Kansas man has been sentenced to prison for shooting a high school senior during a confrontation that stemmed from a water gun game, authorities said.

Ruben Contreras, 49, was sentenced to just over three and a half years in prison after being convicted of aggravated battery for the shooting of 18-year-old Anakin Zehring in the spring of 2024. A jury returned the guilty verdict in November 2025. Contreras was acquitted of a separate charge of attempted murder.

The shooting occurred on May 11, 2024, around 4:45 p.m., in the parking lot of a Walmart on West Kellogg Drive in Goddard, Kansas. Court records show Zehring and two friends arrived at the store as part of a popular high school senior game known as “assassins,” in which participants use water guns or similar toys to tag assigned targets.

Zehring, who was driving a blue Chevrolet Spark, pulled up near Contreras’ daughter and her boyfriend as they walked into the store to buy supplies for a graduation party. According to an affidavit, the teens shouted phrases associated with the game, and Zehring used a gel blaster — a toy gun that shoots water-filled beads — to hit the pair. The couple said they did not know the teens.

Afterward, the couple went inside the store. The boyfriend later exited and confronted the group, and a Walmart employee eventually asked the teens to leave. Zehring and his friends briefly went to a nearby Dairy Queen before returning to their car.

By that time, Contreras’ daughter had called her father to report what happened. As Zehring began driving out of the parking lot, witnesses said Contreras ran toward the vehicle. Believing the man was crossing the lot, Zehring slowed down. Instead, Contreras pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired a single shot through the rear window, striking Zehring in the back.

The car continued moving and crashed into nearby shipping containers. Zehring was seriously injured, and his passengers fled to a nearby field. Emergency responders transported Zehring to a hospital, where he was treated for severe internal injuries. The shooting left him paralyzed.

Police arrested Contreras at the scene and recovered the firearm. A witness later told investigators that Contreras said he fired because the teens had “shot my daughter.”

In the weeks following the shooting, Zehring’s parents created a GoFundMe page, saying their son’s life had been permanently altered by the incident and that the injuries caused extensive damage to his body.

Contreras will serve his sentence in Kansas state prison.

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