YULEE, Fla. — School leaders previously sent out warnings about a senior game that led to a Bishop Kenny High senior getting shot by an off-duty state agent. The incident happened on Purple Martin Drive in Yulee early Wednesday morning.
Two days ago, the superintendent sent out a letter to all the senior parents warning them of the dangers of the game called “Senior Assassins.” It’s an unofficial tradition for seniors to use water guns to “eliminate their target.”
Wednesday, the dangers proved to be true.
“It makes me afraid for my grandchildren,” Grandmother Liesa Mitchell said.
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The game worries many parents and grandparents who have kids in school.
“It scares me and almost makes me cry because I know it could be my grandchild,” Grandmother Jackie Revels said.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent saw three people prowling outside their home in the dark early this morning holding what appeared to be a gun. This led the agent to shoot and hit one of them in the arm.
It turns out, it was an 18-year-old student with a water gun that looked like a real gun. He was playing Senior Assassins. Luckily, he’s expected to be okay.
Read: Child injured in ‘accidental’ shooting in St. Johns County
“We are praying for him and his family,” Deacon Scott Conway said.
Conway is the superintendent of the Diocese of St. Augustine that oversees Bishop Kenny. He said this game is banned from their schools.
And just this week, he warned parents that the game, “has the potential to create anxiety, fear and potentially dangerous situations.”
“It’s very disturbing that our students are participating in this game,” Conway said.
Sheriff Bill Leeper said in a statement, “These types of games may seem innocent, but when you have young people sneaking around in the dark wearing masks and carrying objects that could be mistaken for weapons, you’re creating a potentially deadly situation.”
“These kids need to start thinking, you are looking like a suspect who is gonna do something wrong and they’re going to act, and in this case that’s what happened today,” Conway said.
Sandra Sanchez Calderon is a parent who used to have a child at Bishop Kenny. She said she’s familiar with the game and doesn’t mind her kids playing it – as long as they’re responsible.
“It’s not the game itself to me -to me, it’s fine, it’s just unfortunate that it may be the water gun looked very similar to a real one,” Sanchez Calderon said. “It was the outfit - it was dark, the environment.”
FDLE said the off-duty agent immediately gave the teen aid after the shooting.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office is leading this investigation. We asked them whether the agent identified themselves or gave the student any commands to drop their water guns. Officials said they can’t provide any further information at this time.
Read: 11-year-old arrested in Putnam County for bomb threat, according to sheriff’s office
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