Several Chicago-area suburbs have issued warnings about a game played in schools across the country, known by many as “Senior Assassins.”
Police in several suburbs, including Gurnee, Bartlett and Arlington Heights, issued community alerts around the game, with some reporting “concerning incidents” associated with it.
In Gurnee, a group of high school students from another suburb entered a restaurant wearing ski masks and holding water guns that police said looked like guns.
“They targeted other students who were dining in the restaurant and tried to throw water on them,” police said in an alert. “An adult, who was a concealed carryr, in the restaurant mistook the situation for a real threat, and the situation could have escalated quickly. The seriousness of the situation cannot be emphasized enough; it had the potential to result in serious consequences .”
Police say the game involves forming teams for a “tournament-style competition” in which students eliminate competitors by “marking” them with water guns. However, the rules of the game vary depending on location.
In Arlington Heights, police said the “live action game” was an “annual spring tradition for students,” especially seniors.
“The rules of the game specify that the activity cannot take place during class hours or on school grounds. Players attempt to locate their opponents at various locations, including at home, in local parks and in other gathering spaces within the community,” police said. “Students often hide in strange places, chase targets through classes, and suddenly appear in a vehicle or on foot.”
In Bartlett, village officials warned that play would begin April 14. There, authorities said the rules of the game prohibited trespassing “or any other illegal activity.” There, authorities noted that officers from neighboring towns, including St. Charles, responded to 911 calls made by residents concerned about people wearing masks or hoodies loitering around homes or by suspicious vehicles circulating in neighborhoods.
“Some of these reports also involved participants driving on lawns or brandishing water guns that looked like realistic handguns (as seen in the footage), which caused concern among responding officers because they were “unable to tell whether participating students were committing actual crimes or simply playing a game,” the alert states.
In each case, police said they did not condone the game and some expressed concerns to school officials.
“The concept is not against the law or local ordinance. We ask everyone to play safely, use common sense, and recognize how player actions may be perceived by community members “, Arlington Heights police wrote in their alert. “The unintended result of participants running through the community with a water gun, some often resembling a similar firearm, could have deadly consequences.”
Gurnee warned that some cases, particularly those that take place in public spaces, could result in disorderly conduct charges, “as they often cause a sense of alarm and disturbance by others.”
Bartlett officials encouraged parents to talk to their children about the game “to ensure they are aware of potential problems that could arise from their participation.”
NBC Chicago
