Teen could face one year in jail after posting video showing CGI zombies being shot in high school

An 18-year-old senior high school student in Indiana is facing a criminal charge and possible expulsion after sharing a video of a virtual reality game depicting the shooting of zombies inside of the school.

Sean Kristen Small was arrested at Scottsburg High School on Tuesday after a fellow student complained about the clip he had shared to social media.

He’s now been charged with the Class A misdemeanor of intimidation, and if convicted, could be sentenced to anywhere between 0 and 365 days in jail.

He may also be expelled, according to what his father, Kris Small, told WDRB.

Scott County School District 2 Superintendent Marc Slaton declined to comment on the matter, citing student privacy laws. 

Sean told school officials that he ‘meant no harm’ in the post.

Sean Kristen Small was arrested at Scottsburg High School on Tuesday after a fellow student complained about the clip he had shared to social media; A scene from the clip is shown here

Sean had shared the video from a game called ‘Walking Dead: Our World,’ which places computer-generated zombies over whatever is being captured by a smart phone’s camera

A female student reported told the high school’s principal, Ric Manns, that she was concerned after seeing the video on her peer’s Facebook page.

Sean had shared the video from a game called ‘Walking Dead: Our World,’ which places computer-generated zombies over whatever is being captured by a smart phone’s camera, his father said. 

He called the school’s reaction overblown.

‘I do this for a living,’ Kris said. ‘I’m a counselor, and I work with people who are potentially homicidal and suicidal. This was just a kid posting a video of killing zombies, and unless zombies have constitutional rights in Indiana, CGI zombies at that, I don’t understand what the issue is.’

It’s very similar to the game Pokemon Go, which does the same thing with Pokemon, making it look like users are after the imaginary creatures as they attempt to ‘catch ’em all’ in real world settings.

While sharing the video, Sean included the caption, ‘Finally something better than Pokemon Go.’

It’s similar to the game Pokemon Go, which does the same thing with Pokemon, making it look like users are after the imaginary creatures as they attempt to ‘catch ’em all’ in the ‘real world’

In sharing the video, Sean included the caption, ‘Finally something better than Pokemon Go’

Kris Small (left) and Sean Small (right) can be seen here, on Thursday when Sean pleaded not guilty to the intimidation charge

Upon receiving the complaint from another student, Manns reviewed the post with Scott County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Baker, and the two of them determined the footage ‘depicted real Scottsburg High School students walking through the hallway along with fictional zombie characters.’

‘Such students could not be identified due to the app’s photographic settings,’ a probably cause affidavit writen by Baker read.

‘Further, it appeared Sean had used his smartphone to capture the movement of random students walking in the hallway of the school while shooting zombie characters walking in the shooter’s immediate direction.’

‘Further, it appeared Sean had used his smartphone to capture the movement of random students walking in the hallway of the school while shooting zombie characters walking in the shooter’s immediate direction,’ Baker wrote; A student can be seen here on the far right

Manns searched Sean and his backpack prior to his arrest, and found no weapons. 

Kris was called in to the school on Tuesday, where he reviewed the video with Slaton, principal Manns, and the school’s resource officer.

‘They made it sound like he had posted this awful video,’ the teen’s father said.

‘They said he had created (computer-generated imagery) of students and was shooting students in the school hallway, and it wasn’t until I had a chance to actually look at it and I saw the logo in the corner and listened to it and heard the zombie sounds that I realized what it really was.’

Kris said his son downloaded the game after returning home from basic training at Fort Benning, in Georgia.

If he is expelled after a hearing next week, it would cost him his senior year on the school’s wrestling team. A hearing is set for that matter to be held by school next week, Kris said.

Kris was called in to the school on Tuesday, where he reviewed the video with Slaton, principal Manns, and the school’s resource officer

If convicted of the criminal charge, it could completely derail his planned military career.

Sean pleaded not guilty to the intimidation charge in Scott County Circuit Court on Thursday and was released after his family posted a $1,000 bond.

Sean’s criminal case is set for a bench trial on October 23, with a pretrial conference scheduled for September 27.

The charge also carries with it a maximum possible fine of $5,000.