Jacob Shamsian/INSIDER
Be careful when you go out Pokémon hunting.
Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm - but apparently it's causing an influx of 911 calls.
The augmented-reality smartphone game - which allows people to catch Pokémon as they walk around on foot - is a captivating experience for players. But to outside observers, those players just look like they're milling around for no reason.
Redditor MicroKayla, who's a 911 dispatcher, published a post earlier today saying she'd received several calls about "suspicious" people wandering around businesses late at night. Turns out they were all just playing Pokémon Go.
To avoid future mixups - and save 911 dispatchers' efforts for real emergencies - she suggested that players take a minute to tell business owners that they're only playing a game.
"Business owners get concerned when there's several people just standing around, seemingly doing nothing. I know this is a huge game, but not everyone knows about it or knows how it works," she wrote. "It really would be bad for all of us players if Pokémon Go got a bad reputation. It'll also save you a lot of trouble. Just a suggestion. Good luck everyone! And please be careful!"
Here's the original post: