A teenager from Akron, Ohio, was beaten to death on June 2 near the I Promise elementary school after he and his friends shot toy water-bead guns at a group playing basketball, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Ethan Liming, 17, and three friends were driving around when they pulled up to the basketball players and began shooting them with a SplatRBall water-pellet gel gun, Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett said. At first, the basketball players ran from the teens as at least two in Liming’s group ran toward them. But then, the players turned around, chased them back to their car, and the groups began fighting. Liming and two of his friends were assaulted, and Liming ended up dead, police said. Although police have video recordings in the area of the fight and tips submitted by the public, no arrests have been made or suspects identified a week later, Mylett said. NBA legend LeBron James, who is from Akron and helped found the I Promise School, offered his condolences to Liming’s family on Twitter, saying “[May] the heavens above watch over you during this tragedy! Pray for our community!”
