Concerns Aired Over Students’ Ongoing Water Gun Game

SALISBURY — Maryland State Police troopers this week are advising area residents of a potentially dangerous and even deadly game being played out by seniors at Bennett High School in Salisbury and possibly by students at other schools in the area.
Many Bennett High seniors are reportedly currently involved in an ongoing game involving participants being ambushed with water guns that in some cases resemble real handguns.
A Maryland State Police trooper stationed at the Berlin barrack but who lives in Wicomico County this week reported the ongoing game and related the story of two specific incidents that could have had dangerous or deadly consequences.
MSP Trooper-First Class Scott Sears this week documented two incidents involving Bennett seniors participating in the game at or near his Wicomico residence. In the first instance, one of the trooper’s family members went to check the mail and noticed a young female who appeared to be holding a handgun crouched down in the bushes on an adjacent property near the mailbox.
The trooper’s family member was obviously startled and retreated to the house before the young female yelled “it’s just a water gun” and explained she was waiting for the trooper’s neighbor to come home to “ambush” him. The trooper said the water gun was black with an orange tip, but his family member did not immediately recognize the difference and was quite scared. The trooper also noted it was fortunate that he hadn’t discovered the teen crouching in the bushes with an apparent handgun or the incident could have bad consequences.
The next day, the same MSP trooper returned home after dark and noticed a vehicle parked half way in his yard and half way in the road with no lights on and a young female sitting in the passenger seat. The trooper asked the female why she was there and she informed the officer that her boyfriend was in another vehicle waiting to “ambush” his neighbor. The boyfriend returned a short time later with a black water pistol with an orange tip. The female passenger explained to the trooper the senior class at Bennett was playing the game and explained the rules.
For example, a participant can be ambushed at any time and in any place. Participants can enter an unlocked home day or night to find their target, but are not allowed to break into a residence. A participant can come to their target’s place of employment at any time to shoot them.
Once a participant has been shot, he or she is required to sit out for days before being allowed to rejoin the game. At the end of the game, the last individual standing wins $300 based on a points system. No time frame was given as to when the game would end, however.
Clearly, young teens creeping around residents and businesses in the dark or entering unlocked homes with black guns that appear on the surface to be the real deal has the potential for a dangerous or even deadly outcome.
Sears said he confirmed the game with his neighbor’s child and advised him of the serious consequences. The trooper said he was uncertain if students at any other schools in the area were participating in a similar game, but advised area parents with high school-aged children to ask and find out.