Latest news with #SeniorAssassins
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Yahoo
NC sheriff warns parents about danger of teens playing ‘assassins' squirt gun game
Amid a rash of incidents in his county, a North Carolina sheriff is warning parents about the danger of teens playing a late-night squirt gun game called 'Senior Assassins.' Teens wear dark clothes and masks to 'ambush' an unsuspecting classmate, Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said on social media Thursday. The water guns look real, he said. Deputies responded to multiple calls recently about students dressed in black and 'acting suspiciously' around homes and businesses in the Weddington, Waxhaw and Wesley Chapel areas, he said. The game is a national trend. In the most alarming incident, deputies were called to a home on Crane Road near Waxhaw on Wednesday night, Cathey said. Officers found two high school students in all-black hiding outside the home, he said. The teens were set to 'ambush' and spray water on a classmate when she returned home and left her car, the sheriff said. 'Thankfully, deputies arrived first and were able to intervene before the situation escalated,' Cathey said. Cathey urged parents to stress with their teens 'the serious risks of this game.' Carrying water guns that look like real guns 'can lead to confusion, fear and dangerous situations,' Cathey said. Sneaking around homes at night can get someone shot — for real, he said. That's especially true 'where many homeowners take their security very seriously and are often armed with real weapons,' Cathey said. The game has caused injuries and even a death in other states. On Feb. 12, an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent shot a teen in his neighborhood who was playing the game in Yulee, about 25 miles north of Jacksonville, McClatchy News reported. The teen was treated for non-life threatening injuries. In May 2024, the family of a 16-year-old in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, said their son died when he was startled by others aiming guns at him during the game, triggering a heart condition, Penn Live reported.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
WATCH: Jacksonville, Clay, Nassau sheriffs address consequences of ‘Senior Assassin' game
It's a dangerous game being played by high school seniors in many parts of the country. It's called the 'Senior Assassins.' It's an unofficial tradition for seniors to use water guns to 'eliminate their target.' It was nearly deadly Wednesday in Yulee when an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent saw three people prowling outside their home early Wednesday holding what appeared to be a gun. The agent shot one of them in the arm. State Attorney Melissa Nelson, Jacksonville Sheriffs T.K. Waters, Nassau Sheriff Bill Leeper, Clay Sheriff Michelle Cook, and other law enforcement leaders throughout Northeast Florida held a news conference at noon Thursday to 'discuss the potentially deadly consequences of the 'Senior Assassin' game.' ASSASSIN GAME WARNING WATCH: State Attorney Melissa Nelson, Sheriffs T.K. Waters, Bill Leeper, Michelle Cook, and law enforcement leaders throughout Northeast Florida discuss the potentially deadly consequences of the 'Senior Assassin' game being played by high-school seniors throughout the region Posted by Action News Jax on Thursday, February 13, 2025 [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Read: JSO: Man enters Southside pond while facetiming with family member, drowns Read: Bishop Kenny High student shot by police playing banned 'senior assassin' game Read: Military plane crashes into San Diego Bay [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Miami Herald
13-02-2025
- Miami Herald
Student shot playing ‘assassins' game when man thinks toy gun is real, Florida cops say
A high school game known as 'Senior Assassins' turned all too real when a homeowner assumed the plastic guns wielded by students were real and started shooting, according to investigators in North Florida. One student was hit, but is expected to recover, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office said in a Feb. 12 news release. It happened around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, outside a home on Purple Martin Drive in Yulee, about a 25-mile drive north from Jacksonville. The shooter was 'an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Agent' who lives in the neighborhood, officials said. 'The agent encountered what appeared to be three people prowling outside their residence in the dark,' the sheriff's office said. 'Immediately following the shooting, the off-duty agent began to administer first aid while they awaited the arrival of Nassau County Sheriff's Office. The student ... was transported to UF Health with non-life-threatening injuries.' The student was hit in the arm. Investigators say the students were participating in senior tradition that 'has drawn serious safety concerns from law enforcement officials.' 'The person shot was a Bishop Kenny (High School) student from Jacksonville participating in 'Senior Assassins,' a game where students 'tag' targets with water guns,' the sheriff's office said. 'In this case their target was a fellow Bishop Kenny student that lives in Nassau County.' Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said the water guns used by students can be easily mistaken for the real thing 'when it's pitch dark.' 'These types of games may seem innocent, but when you have young people sneaking around in the dark carrying objects that could be mistaken for weapons, you're creating a potentially deadly situation,' he said in a video posted on Facebook. 'This incident demonstrates exactly why parents need to take this seriously and speak to their kids about the dangers of these types of games. The next time this happens it could be someone's life.' The state Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit have joined an investigation into the incident, the sheriff's office said.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
‘Start thinking': Teen shot by FDLE agent while playing game banned by schools
School leaders previously sent out warnings about a senior game that led to a Bishop Kenny High senior getting shot by an off-duty state agent. The incident happened on Purple Martin Drive in Yulee early Wednesday morning. Two days ago, the superintendent sent out a letter to all the senior parents warning them of the dangers of the game called 'Senior Assassins.' It's an unofficial tradition for seniors to use water guns to 'eliminate their target.' Today, the dangers proved to be true. 'It makes me afraid for my grandchildren,' Grandmother Liesa Mitchell said. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The game worries many parents and grandparents who have kids in school. 'It scares me and almost makes me cry because I know it could be my grandchild,' Grandmother Jackie Revels said. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office said an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent saw three people prowling outside their home in the dark early this morning holding what appeared to be a gun. This led the agent to shoot and hit one of them in the arm. It turns out, it was an 18-year-old student with a water gun that looked like a real gun. He was playing Senior Assassins. Luckily, he's expected to be okay. Read: Child injured in 'accidental' shooting in St. Johns County 'We are praying for him and his family,' Deacon Scott Conway said. Conway is the superintendent of the Diocese of St. Augustine that oversees Bishop Kenny. He said this game is banned from their schools. And just this week, he warned parents that the game, 'has the potential to create anxiety, fear and potentially dangerous situations.' 'It's very disturbing that our students are participating in this game,' Conway said. Sheriff Bill Leeper said in a statement, 'These types of games may seem innocent, but when you have young people sneaking around in the dark wearing masks and carrying objects that could be mistaken for weapons, you're creating a potentially deadly situation.' 'These kids need to start thinking, you are looking like a suspect who is gonna do something wrong and they're going to act, and in this case that's what happened today,' Conway said. Sandra Sanchez Calderon is a parent who used to have a child at Bishop Kenny. She said she's familiar with the game and doesn't mind her kids playing it – as long as they're responsible. 'It's not the game itself to me -to me, it's fine, it's just unfortunate that it may be the water gun looked very similar to a real one,' Sanchez Calderon said. 'It was the outfit - it was dark, the environment.' FDLE said the off-duty agent immediately gave the teen aid after the shooting. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office is leading this investigation. We asked them whether the agent identified themselves or gave the student any commands to drop their water guns. Officials said they can't provide any further information at this time. Read: 11-year-old arrested in Putnam County for bomb threat, according to sheriff's office [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
