An 18-year-old Bishop Kenny High School student was shot in the arm early Thursday morning by an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agent in Nassau County. Investigators determined the incident was connected to “Senior Assassins,” a game played by high school seniors.
The shooting occurred just before 6:00 a.m. on Purple Martin Drive in Yulee. The off-duty agent saw what appeared to be three individuals prowling outside their residence in the dark. The agent fired, striking one of the students.
Nassau County Sheriff’s Office investigators later identified the wounded individual as a Bishop Kenny student from Jacksonville. The student was participating in “Senior Assassins,” a game where players use water guns to “tag” assigned targets. The intended target in this instance was another Bishop Kenny student living in Nassau County.
After the shooting, the off-duty agent provided first aid until deputies arrived. The student was transported to UF Health with non-life-threatening injuries.
The game “senior assassin” commonly involves high school seniors making a list of classmates who then pursue each other with water guns or Nerf guns. The winner is the last person who isn’t sprayed. It sounds innocent enough, but more and more reports of dangerous misunderstandings have been surfacing.
“These types of games may seem innocent, but when you have young people sneaking around in the dark carrying objects that could be mistaken for weapons, you’re creating a potentially deadly situation,” said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper.
“Thankfully the student will survive, but this incident demonstrates exactly why parents need to take this seriously and speak to their kids about the dangers of these types of games,” Leeper added. “The next time this happens, it could be someone’s life.”
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident alongside the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
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