Fremont police warn teens over 'Assassins' game

Fremont police are telling high school seniors to stop playing “Assassins” after calls about teens carrying realistic-looking toy guns triggered dangerous police responses. (ktvu.com) The game is typically played off campus by 12th-grade students, who use water guns or Nerf-style blasters to “eliminate” classmates. Fremont police said recent reports led to multiple high-risk patrol stops and traffic stops. (kron4.com) Police said the problem is not the game’s name but the way it is being played in public, with imitation weapons that can look real from a distance or during a 911 call. The department said those calls pull officers away from actual emergencies and can escalate quickly when officers believe a gun may be involved. (patch.com) California law also restricts how imitation guns can be displayed in public. Penal Code Section 20170 says a person may not openly display or expose an imitation firearm in a public place, including a street, sidewalk, driveway, parking lot or automobile. (law.justia.com) That matters in a game built around surprise encounters in neighborhoods and cars. Fremont police said students could face citations, and state law treats a first violation of the imitation-firearm rule as an infraction. (patch.com) (shouselaw.com) The warning lands in the final stretch of the school year, when “senior assassins” games often spread through group chats and social media at high schools around the country. News reports on the Fremont warning described the players as local high school seniors. (yahoo.com) Fremont police addressed the warning to both students and parents. The department said the safest option is to stop the activity before a fake gun, a startled bystander and an armed police response meet in the same place. (kron4.com)