Police in Massachusetts are warning high school students about the dangers of a common prank.
“We know it’s been happening for years and, so far, no serious incidents in Wrentham. But, in other communities across the country, students have been shot by unsuspecting homeowners,” Wrentham Police Chief Bill McGrath wrote on Facebook.
The prank is “Senior Assassin,” which has been a common game across high schools for years. In the game, students try and hit each another with a water gun. If a student is hit with a water gun, they are eliminated from the game.
This leads to teens hiding in bushes, under cars and lurking around to hit their classmates.
Earlier this year, an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer shot a Bishop Kenny High student who was playing the game.
The officer noticed “three people prowling outside their residence in the dark” and mistook them for home invaders, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said according to WUSF.
McGrath didn’t think his message would stop the game but he wants students to be safe.
He encourages students to not use squirt guns that look like real guns.
“Only use brightly colored guns. You don’t want police or residents who have REAL guns mistaking yours for a real gun,” he wrote.
Do not go onto private property, he also said. And be extra mindful of playing the game at night.
“Playing this game at night, increases the chance someone will mistake you for a bad guy,” he wrote. “If you jump out of your hiding place and scare someone, they may hurt you before they figure out it’s a prank.”
And do not follow or chase people in cars.
“It’s dangerous because it distracts both the pursuer and the pursued,” he wrote.