Senior 'assassin' game causes scare for Hopkinton woman, police

HOPKINTON, Mass. — High school students across the state and country are playing a variation of tag now that the warm weather has returned, but in some communities it has caused concern.

The game is called ‘assassin’ it involves students chasing each other with squirt guns.

Some teens go to great lengths to trap other players, called targets, so they can advance to the next round of play.

But community members unaware of the game can easily mistake it for something much more sinister.

Sunday night, a Hopkinton woman called 911 to report she had trapped a possibly armed man in her garage.

The teen got out of the garage, and took off with his two friends. But police caught up with them under the assumption they were armed.

“It's usually a lot of fun. There have never been any problems like this before,” Hopkinton High School senior Chris Burdick said.

Police eventually determined that it was all a misunderstanding. The teen mistakenly thought he was at the house of his target.

“I know the kid who was inside the garage and I think it might be, well, a little overblown,” Burdick said.

‘Assassin’ is only a game, but it could have resulted in serious consequences.

“We're not trying to be bad kids or anything like that... just trying to have fun,” HHS senior Jake LeBlanc said.

The game is not a school sponsored event, but students say it's been going on a long time.

Once the homeowner was made aware of the situation she declined to press charges.

In other towns, police have sent out warnings to residents about the game.

“This event is not condoned by the police department or the school department but it is not illegal and we cannot stop them from participating. They are asked to use their best judgement and to keep things safe,” the Sharon Police Department said in a message to residents.

Cox Media Group