GROTON, Mass. — “Senior Assassin,” a popular yet controversial tradition among high school students nationwide, is triggering warnings from local authorities.
Officers from Groton and Westford were called to a neighborhood in Groton just after 5:30 p.m. for several reports of a masked person dressed in black and armed with a gun, according to the Groton Police Department.
Police said that an investigation into the reports revealed that the person involved was a high school senior participating in a large-scale water gun fight called “Senior Assassin.”
Groton-Dunstable Regional High School seniors were running around attempting to eliminate one another by sneaking up on them and squirting them with a squirt gun, according to police.
In this particular incident, a fake gun was mistaken for a real firearm, causing fright for neighborhood residents.
“The squirt gun was realistic looking from a distance and had been mistaken for a real gun by the multiple residents who called 911 in alarm,” the police department said in a statement. “Thankfully, this incident did not have a tragic ending due to officers’ training and experience and the quick realization that the gun was not real.”
The department also urged parents of high school students to speak to their teens about the dangers of the game.
“We hope that this can be a teachable moment for the older teens in Groton, and are very glad that this incident turned out to be just a prank in very poor taste,” police added.
The department also warned that if there are other instances of teens causing disruption while playing this game, they’ll face legal consequences for disturbing the peace, in addition to any other laws that get broken.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
