BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – As the school year winds down, some students develop “Senioritis.” One way to add excitement to the final weeks of high school is with squirt guns.
High school seniors are playing a game called “Water Wars,” and it’s more popular and lucrative than ever. Water Wars are not new; for $25 or so, they compete for something like March Madness squares.
Six-person teams look to eliminate other teams by squirting them with water. You have to videotape your attacks on your opponent, which they post online.
The payoffs can be in the thousands of dollars, but running around town with squirt guns is turning into a bit of a worry for the police in Bloomfield Township.
What would you do if you saw a guy wearing a Sniper Ghillie Suit crawling around in your shrubbery while walking the dog in the morning or dusk?
That is exactly what happened this week in Bloomfield Township, and while the teen ran away, police officer Nick Soley says it could have turned dangerous quickly.
“We’ve been out, and we’ve been warning our community about these high-end break-ins and home invasions, and saying ‘If you see something suspicious, please call us,’ and we’ve got kids in full Ghillie Suits on people’s property and things like that,” said Soley.
The games are quite sophisticated as they have rules, such as:
- You can’t go after the competition on school grounds.
- You can only use water.
- You can’t break the law or shoot out of a moving vehicle.
- And you’re out if you have a run-in with the cops.
And over the years, we’ve seen incidents where teens came close to injury.
“We just want them to be smart and see how they’re perceived by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing,” Soley said.
But let’s face it—as the legendary t-shirt says, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”
“So our only concern is the safety of these students,” Soley said. “They’re out there having fun. We want them to have fun but do it responsibly.”
Most high schools want to avoid the games played at school, which the students understand. But you can see the game playing out in places like your local department store.