Not a stretch at all. The origin story of these panics have major parallels:

A DnD game gone wrong, which lead to a man killing himself since he lost touch with reality.

A Black teenager gunned down in the street by a racist White cop after running away and holding his hands up.

Both of these stories are absolute fiction. The former had a history of suicidal thoughts and substance abuse. The latter assaulted a police officer and tried to wrestle his gun away just minutes after he committed strong armed robbery of a corner store.