Provincial police in Collingwood and Blue Mountain are warning teens after a game of “senior assassin” led to several calls about firearms.
Police say twice in the past week, officers have responded to reports of young people in vehicles with firearms, which was later determined to be youths and young adults playing a game called “senior assassin” with water guns.
Senior assassin has grown in popularity across Canada and the United States. In the game, high school seniors are all assigned targets with the goal of eliminating their target with a water gun before each round ends.
Police say that although it’s getting young people away from their devices, they want to raise awareness to help the public limit confusion between the game and a real scenario.
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Provincial police warn players of the game to avoid using water guns that look like “real” firearms and to stick to the brightly coloured plastic type.
Police also say those playing the game should avoid lingering around other people’s homes or trespassing on their property and not wear masks that cover the face.
“It is important for young people to understand how their actions could look/be interpreted by a member of the public, who is unfamiliar with the game that they are playing,” police said in a statement.
On April 24, police received a complaint that several teens in a white vehicle were at an address on Kirby Avenue in Collingwood, trying to get to another teen who had taken refuge in a residence.
Police were told that one of the individuals was carrying a handgun, prompting multiple police units to converge on the area.
Officers located the vehicle and suspects, taking them into custody before determining that the firearm was a water gun and the teens were playing senior assassin.
Then, on Sunday, officers again responded to a complaint that several teens were parked in a vehicle on Bush Street in Collingwood and acting suspiciously in front of a residence.
Police say it was believed that they had firearms with them in the vehicle.
Multiple officers arrived, and the teens were detained while the incident was investigated.
It was then determined that the teens were using water guns and playing the senior assassin game.
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