Calgary police warn about popular ‘senior assassin’ game

Calgary police are out with a warning about a popular game high school kids are playing with toy guns.

Police say the ‘senior assassin’ game involves joining an app to shoot people with water guns. It’s supposed to be fun, but it can turn dangerous when it’s taken a step further.

The objective of the game is for participating students to “assassinate” a target, a fellow participating student, by squirting them with a water gun within a given time period.

“They are getting (water guns) that look more like a real firearm,” says Calgary police Insp. Colleen Bowers with the Youth Services Section. “They are painting them black so they look more like a real firearm.”

Bowers says there are water guns that can be ordered online that look similar to a police officers glock. She says they’ve seen examples of school lockdowns in Ontario and in the U.S. that have sparked calls from the public.

“Police will respond, not knowing whether it’s real or fake, with the belief that there is an actual firearm and a significant public safety danger,” she says. ‘Which obviously puts the youth in danger.”

Police are asking parents to ensure their kids are not taking anything that looks remotely like a real gun to school. They also add that sharing your location with an app is dangerous.

Incidents near Calgary schools this week involving airsoft and BB guns were not related to the game, but Bowers says they have had at least one call in the city that was.