PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - What began as a silly game involving toy guns could result in two students facing criminal charges.

Nicole Laughlin of Plainfield Township is seeking charges against two Grand Rapids Christian High School students, one of whom she alleges attempted to break into her car and hit her with a Nerf gun dart.

Police responded to Laughlin's home on Friday, April 28, after she said a moving vehicle came out in front of her car as she was leaving for work, blocking her between two pillars at the end of her driveway.

After that, a man jumped out of the bushes near her home and grabbed at the passenger door of her car, holding what looked like a real gun.

In that moment, Laughlin said all she could think to do was lay down on her horn and hope her husband, who was still inside the home, would come outside.

"All I knew was it was a white gun," she said. "I was in complete terror."

The horn scared the man, who fled in a car driven by a female. Laughlin said she followed the car and took pictures before calling 911.

Deputies never treated it as possible prank when they responded, she said.

Kent County Sheriff's Sgt. Joel Roon said deputies responded as if the incident was an attempted carjacking.

"We didn't know it was a game when it was reported," Roon said. Deputies searched the area for suspects and "had we located them in the area immediately following the incident, we would have had to be very cautious on a traffic stop."

Laughlin said a neighbor with a student at Grand Rapids Christian High School later said the incident sounded like a game teenagers play called "Nerf Assassin," in which players use fake weapons to eliminate other players and be the last person standing.

Roon said police have seen the game pop up occasionally at local schools, but this is the only known game going on in the county jurisdiction right now.

He called the game "dangerous" with some "inherent risks."

Laughlin said later on, police went to the high school, found the car and talked to the students believed to be involved.

Superintendent Tom DeJonge said he did not have any comment at the time, as he was still learning details surrounding the case.

Roon said the students involved are ages 17 and 18. He said the Kent County Prosecutor's Office will review this case this week.

One of the reasons Laughlin said she asked to press charges is because she thinks the students went to great lengths to complete the prank and need to be held accountable for their actions.

She also said the students didn't stop the prank when they realized she wasn't whom they might have been targeting.

Laughlin wants her story to get out because the game has escalated from a high school prank to something serious. She wonders what might have happened if the students had ambushed someone with an actual weapon in their car.

"I don't think the students understand the gravity and seriousness," she said. "It's not a joke. It's not a prank. It's not funny."