2 Illinois Cities Issue Warnings Over “Senior Assassin” Game

When I was in high school, especially when we got into the last month or so of classes before summer vacation, the biggest concerns the school and local law enforcement had were something called "senior skip days."

Super-Soakers and Nerf guns hadn't been invented yet, and many of us couldn't spell assassin if our lives depended on it, so nobody at that time had to issue a statement spelling out how our new game could end up getting us killed.

Times change, and for at least the second straight year, schools and police have been warning would-be participants in "Senior Assassin" and/or "Paranoia" that these end-of-the-school-year games could end tragically.

Two Suburban Illinois Cities Have Just Issued Warnings About Senior Assassin And Paranoia To Raise Public Awareness Of These Games That Are Being Played Coast-To-Coast

The Glen Ellyn Police Department, along with Glenbard West High School, shared this community alert on their Facebook page on Monday:

Last week, it was the Arlington Heights Police Department:

Other Municipalities, Like Glencoe And Northfield Have Also Released Community Alerts About These Sorts Of Targeting Games

Just how popular are Senior Assassin and Paranoia? A lot more popular than I think many of us realize, according to WGNTV.com:

With over 350 participants, “Senior Assassin” is the talk of Oak Park and River Forest High School, while the game’s dangers are on the minds of police officers across the Chicago suburbs. In some instances, participants have utilized realistic looking water guns — which police warn could have deadly consequences.

Last April, police in Gurnee issued a community alert after a concealed-carry holder mistook a group of high school students playing the game, while wearing ski masks and holding water guns, as a threat. Police are asking students to “consider the perception of an uninformed resident who sees a person rapidly displaying a replica firearm in a populated common area.”