Particle.news
Download on the App Store

13-Year-Old Charged After Dodgeball Targeting Hospitalizes Classmate

A police report showing softball-sized bruises from a December gym-class incident led prosecutors to file a misdemeanor assault charge.

Overview

  • During warm-ups for a PE dodgeball lesson in December 2025 at Mayer High School, three boys allegedly threw foam balls at a girl who had just exited a bathroom, and photos provided by her family show two large bruises on her right rib cage and abdomen.
  • Two days after the incident a Banner Health social worker alerted the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, and deputies later recorded a police report that the girl had been hospitalized for her injuries.
  • A deputy interviewed all three boys and each denied wanting to hurt the girl, though 13-year-old Abel Schipper told AZFamily he “targeted her a little bit” and admitted he hit her during the game.
  • Yavapai County prosecutors charged Schipper with misdemeanor assault and scheduled a juvenile hearing for Monday, August 17, at the Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center.
  • Schipper’s mother says she was not told the school had been involved or that deputies interviewed her son and calls the charge excessive, a development that echoes past cases where prosecutors weighed whether rough school play should be handled in juvenile court.