A shooting game in which high school students try to eliminate each other with toy guns that resemble real firearms is keeping Ontario Provincial Police busy with several calls from concerned citizens.
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What is the game and how does it work?
The game Senior Assassin is a real-life game played by Grade 12 students with the goal to “eliminate” pre-determined targets using toy guns, with the last remaining participant declared the winner. Students select a target to be eliminated until a new one is picked. The prize for the winning player can be cash or bragging rights.
What are police saying?
The Ontario Provincial Police told The Free Press students aren’t playing the game only in schools but also in places such as neighborhoods, near roads or from moving vehicles. Citizens who don’t know about the game end up calling the police when they see young people driving or running around with the weapons.
“We go out there prepared to be faced with a (real) weapon because that’s what you have to react to,” said Const. Randi Crawford. “Fortunately, in these instances, it was quite obvious the weapons weren’t real.”
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The Oxford OPP hopes to warn people who are unfamiliar with the ongoing game not to take what they see at face value to avoid confusion.
“(The goal) is to educate the students on maybe doing it (the game) in a different environment, a different location, or even starting a new type of tradition, something that’s a little less nerve-wracking to the community,” Crawford said.
Citizens are asked to take an extra moment to check for details such as fluorescent yellow water guns before calling the police.
“If someone still felt, even after this release, that there was a kid that had a weapon, we still want them to call if they think that it’s a serious weapon and it’s a serious call,” Crawford said.
Close calls
Several calls to police by scared citizens in the past year across the region have turned out to be unfounded, Crawford said.
Officers respond based on the information provided by the complainant, getting to the scene faster if they are unsure if it’s a serious threat.
A thorough investigation is done at the scene, and police talk to complainants and students about the risks of participating in the game, Crawford said, adding they remind students to be respectful to the community and mindful of their actions.
“We make sure that everyone is educated and understands the seriousness of this type of call and how to prevent it from happening again,” Crawford said.
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