It was like a scene out of a natural disaster film — people running, getting out of their cars, mass hysteria — except people weren't stampeding because of a horrific event. They were after a rare Pokémon.
Vaporeon, a highly-sought after creature in the new Pokemon GO mobile game, appeared inside the park past the "Two Orchids" sculpture at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue on Thursday night. And masses of players went into a frenzy to capture it.
One witness captured the mania on video around 11 p.m. that night.
The man who uploaded the video commented that the front of the pack was "sprinting into the park like a herd of wildebeest" and he couldn't believe that one of the players jumped out of his car while leaving the engine running to grab the Vaporeon.
► READ: Tips for Surviving Pokémon GO in NYC
This isn't the first strange event that's happened since the game was released. A man fell into a Prospect Park pond on July 11 while playing Pokémon GO and another was robbed and punched in the face in Edgewater while trying to 'catch 'em all."
NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton last week said it is the "stupidest" craze and that it's transforming millennials into "walking zombies."
The NYPD did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.
