RAINS COUNTY, Texas — The Rains County Sheriff's Office is warning parents of a game being played among children and teens that could lead to dangerous situations.
The RCSO said in a Facebook post that children have started playing the game, which is often called "assassins," in which teens team up or go solo to target a list of other players. While it seems to have started with water guns, the game has evolved to include some type of rubber ball gun. The kids then posts "hits" on a social media platform.
The sheriff's office said that while the game looks to be innocent, the rules and players can get out of hand, such as instances of teens putting GPS locators on “targets'” vehicles. One report said a kid was killed in a car wreck while running from a "hitman."
"Another report stated one teen was seen in a tree line and a call to local authorities in reference to a man with a gun in the woods," Rains County Sheriff Michael Hopkins said. "Once police arrived, the teen was found hiding in the woods and it turned out to be a water gun. From a long distance or low light conditions the gun may look real."
Hopkins said that most of the calls to law enforcement about this game have been trespassing calls. He said business and homeowners will not want this happening on their property.
"Teens being young and not having a lot of life experience, my fear is accidents will happen and will happen fast," Hopkins said. "We are wanting to keep our parents and community in the know and educate the parents of the safety concerns of this game."
He added the biggest concern is the safety of the children and to prevent innocent fun from turning into something more serious.