Livermore cops want end to high school 'Assassin’ game

A Livermore teenager crashed into a house in 2013 in a failed attempt to flee an "assassin." Cases like this led the Livermore Police Department to urge local high school students to refrain from playing “Assassin,” a game in which students aim to "kill" peers with fake weapons for a cash prize. less A Livermore teenager crashed into a house in 2013 in a failed attempt to flee an "assassin." Cases like this led the Livermore Police Department to urge local high school students to refrain from playing ... more Photo: Livermore Police Department Photo: Livermore Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Livermore cops want end to high school 'Assassin’ game 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Many high school seniors in Livermore are preparing for battle this week, lurking in parking lots and alleyways, hiding in bushes and speeding down streets, Nerf brand toy guns in tow.

Livermore and other Bay Area cities are again becoming war zones for teens playing Assassin — a mock battle that pits high school students against each other in a game that can last weeks and leaves only one team of students standing.

But if Livermore police can help it, the game will stop well before that. The department this week asked students and parents to refrain from playing the game, which it called “dangerous.” School administrators agreed.

“There are guns out there today that look a lot like Nerf guns. Now we are concerned about anything that is wielded as a weapon,” said Philomena Rambo, the principal at Granada High. “The police can never assume that a gun is a toy. Someone lurking behind a bush aiming a gun at somebody — who knows?”

The game began Monday at Granada, and will soon commence at Livermore High across town, said Rambo. She’s already seen the game in progress — bullets from Nerf guns littered the campus’ lawn early this week.

The game, which has become a tradition at many local schools and has been going on in Livermore for at least two decades, is organized each year by high school seniors. Students who pay their way into the game receive the names of other seniors to “assassinate.”

Entry fee $10

According to Granada students and social media posts, the entry fee is $10. Only Nerf guns are permitted. There’s a Twitter page with “tributes” to “fallen” players. A separate YouTube account has cell phone footage of “kills” — such video evidence is required.

After police weighed in, the student organizers — supposedly known as the “Godfathers” — wrote on Twitter, “Effective immediately, kills between the times of 7:30-4:00 will not be allowed. This is to allow students to come to and from school safely.”

In neighboring Pleasanton, students at Foothill High plan to start their competition when second semester begins, according to a senior there who declined to be identified.

She said two-person teams will compete for a cash prize as hefty as $4,000. The school tends to look the other way, she said, as long as the kids take their antics off school property.

“You get assigned two people to shoot. You have to shoot both partners. If you and your partner get shot, you’re out,” the student explained. She added, “The class of 2012 got in trouble a lot for trespassing, putting trackers on other people’s cars.”

Targets kept secret

Part of a winning strategy is keeping your targets secret, she said. This makes it easier to catch them off guard. There are “safe zones” where students can’t be assassinated, including school grounds.

But Livermore police said the fake killers pose a real threat to the community — and themselves. In previous years, they said, one teenage girl drove her car into a house in a failed attempt to escape assassination.

Another teenager rushing to his car to escape his assassin smacked his head on the door frame and was knocked unconscious. One student hid under a car to surprise a peer, and was still under the car when it started, said Rambo.

On multiple occasions, Livermore officers have responded to reports of reckless driving, suspicious behavior or armed subjects in the community — only to discover teenagers in the midst of a mock death struggle.

“We don’t want to see some type of tragic event happen due to students playing a game,” police officials said in a statement on the department’s Facebook page.

Police around the country have killed young people after mistaking toy guns for real ones. Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Cleveland boy with an air gun that shot plastic projectiles, was fatally shot by an officer Nov. 22, prompting a national outcry.

In October 2013, 13-year-old Andy Lopez was fatally shot outside Santa Rosa by a county sheriff's deputy who mistook his replica AK-47 pellet rifle for a real gun.

Many attempts to ban

School districts and colleges from Austin, Texas, to the University of Nebraska to New York City have tried to ban Assassin.

The game has sparked heavy debate in recent years in Livermore and Pleasanton. Some parents are frustrated, while others argue it’s all in good fun. Some even act as “body shields” for their offspring during an attack, according to students.

Gabriella Custodio, a junior at Granada High, said her older sister was once “killed” by a boy who hid outside her home in a box that appeared to be garbage. Asked if the police warning might give teens second thoughts, she said, “It makes them all want to do it even more.”