Police Warn That A High School Senior Prank Game Could Become Deadly Serious

(NewsReady.com) – The internet has been great in many ways, but social media has given kids a larger platform to behave foolishly. Sometimes that has deadly results. Police are now warning a new trend could lead to fatalities.

On April 5, the Arlington Heights Police Department in Illinois issued an alert on social media about an online, live-action game called “Senior Assassin.” According to the notice, the game is played by high school students across the country and often in the spring.

Participants of the game shoot each other with water guns and try to avoid being shot themselves. The last one standing wins the game. The bulletin warned that kids hide in places, like homes, parks, and other locations, to surprise their opponents. They also chase their targets, both on foot and in vehicles.

The police department warned that some squirt guns could be mistaken for real weapons. With an increasing number of residents concealed carrying, it could have deadly consequences. They even shared that they’d received a recent call from a resident who reported that a “man with a gun” was running through their yard.

Approximately a week after the Arlington Heights Police Department issued the warning, the Itasca Police Department in Illinois posted a photo of a rollover crash on Facebook. The department stated the accident was caused by two high school students playing the “Senior Assassin” game. The students were in vehicles and one of them lost control and crashed.

Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured in the accident. The department urged teens participating in the game to consider the potential consequences.

In Gurnee, Illinois, a group of students entered The Point Pancake House with ski masks on. They began brandishing their squirt guns, according to Gurnee Detective Shawn Gaylor. The guns looked like real weapons and a concealed carry holder in the restaurant almost pulled out their firearm to protect those around them. The detective said the individual quickly realized the teens had toy guns and didn’t intervene.

Parents should speak to their children about the potential dangers of the game.