Kids' Zoom Class Went From Normal to Criminal in Real Time

A class of Ecuadorian students had their Zoom class go from perfectly normal to terrifying in an instant: Per the Daily Dot, a teacher was instructing a class of two dozen students online when, to the horror of the kids watching, one of their classmates got caught in the middle of a real-time robbery. The Noticias Nuestra Realidad news agency has the video, which shows the rather subdued group listening to their teacher, shown in the upper-left corner of the screen, as he conducts the class. Suddenly, one of the squares in the middle of the screen shows disturbing action: A student, identified by FR24 News as Maria Jose, turns to face the doorway of the room she's in, through which two masked intruders appear to push a family member.

Maria Jose and her apparent family member are backed into a corner, where they can no longer be seen on screen. That's when other students start to catch on, and one boy interrupts their professor, who didn't seem to notice what was happening. "They are robbing MaJo's house!" someone says, per the Daily Dot. "Quickly, call the police!" the stunned professor implores. "Call the parents!" Maria Jose's laptop camera is then knocked out. Last Friday, the country's interior minister gave a good-news update. "CAPTURED," Maria Paula Romo tweeted. "The @PoliciaEcuador immediately captured those responsible for the theft." PerthNow reports the cops were able to find the suspects via their smartphones and recover about $5,500 in cash, a laptop (perhaps the ambushed student's), and two firearms, among other items. In even better news, Maria Jose was reportedly uninjured. (More Zoom stories.)