Teen playing 'Assassins' game detained in Freeport
FREEPORT, Pa. (KDKA) — Police in Freeport are warning students participating in a potentially dangerous tradition to be careful. It's called the "Assassins" game and it's already resulted in police detaining a student who neighbors thought was a potential gunman lying in wait.
The game is usually played by seniors across the United States as they get ready to graduate. The premise of the game is to squirt someone with a water gun. That person is then out of the game. Whoever is left standing at the end of the game is the champion. It sounds like a lot of fun, but it got one young man in trouble on High Street in Freeport.
Kevin Wolfe says everything was normal along High Street early Tuesday evening until his wife came home.
"My wife came into the house telling me there was somebody with a gun outside the dance studio," Wolfe said.
Running outside, Wolfe got a look at the individual. Wolfe said he confronted the man in black, who was a kid with a water gun painted black to look like a real rifle.
"He said it's a game seniors play," Wolfe said.
The game is nothing new and is based on the "Spy vs. Spy" concept of getting someone before they get you. Wolfe says he told the young man, "A homeowner could have come out and shot you thinking you were an armed intruder or something to that effect."
That's what has happened in the past in other places. Freeport police showed up and detained the young man. Police said they've asked the Freeport Area School District to address the situation. KDKA-TV reached out to the school for a statement on the issue but didn't hear back by airtime.
"Somebody organized this," Wolfe said. "These kids are seniors, they should be smart enough not to engage in something of that nature."
Despite this being just some game, Freeport police are asking residents to say something if they see something. As for what's going to happen to the young man involved in this incident, the investigation continues.