HASTINGS — Prosecutors said Friday they will not file criminal charges against anyone involved in a rollover crash that killed two students who were playing a game of “Nerf War” inside the vehicle.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said his office reviewed the possibility of multiple charges in the case, including kidnapping and criminal vehicular homicide, but there was insufficient evidence to prove elements of a crime.

Jacob Flynn, 17, and John Price, 18, were passengers in a truck when it rolled Dec. 4. Backstrom said the investigation found everyone in the truck was voluntarily participating in a Nerf War game, and the driver may have been bumped when he lost control of the truck.

“While no criminal charges are being filed in this case, I hope that all youth take notice of how quickly tragedy can occur while operating a motor vehicle,” Backstrom said in a statement. “Games such as ‘Nerf War’ have no place in a moving motor vehicle as they can lead to distractions to or interference with the driver with deadly consequences as occurred in this preventable incident.”

Backstrom said games like Nerf War have no place in the community and should end.

Backstrom said the investigation showed that as part of the game, participants get points by shooting opposing team players with a Nerf bullet. Points can be doubled if the shooting is caught on camera. As part of the game, students are routinely “kidnapped” and taken away from school grounds, where the game is prohibited.

Backstrom said that on Dec. 4, Flynn was kidnapped and put in the truck. An 18-year-old passenger told investigators that moments before the crash, Price had jumped from the truck’s back seat into the front, and Flynn might have been reaching for the Nerf gun in the front seat. Somehow the driver was bumped and veered off course, then over-corrected and rolled the vehicle.

While pictures were found on the driver’s cellphone around the time of the crash, they are blurry and investigators can’t prove who was using the phone at the time. Backstrom said a kidnapping charge wouldn’t apply because the youth were participating in a game. Other crimes, such as criminal vehicular homicide or reckless driving also can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.