Illinois police fear people will mistake students’ water gun game for ‘genuine threat’

The city of St Charles said in a Facebook post that students are using ‘realistic-looking fake guns’ such as the one pictured here. Photograph: City of St Charles Police Department

Multiple police departments across Illinois are warning residents about the potential risks of a game called “senior assassins” in which high school students don ski masks and target each other with water guns that look like firearms.

In a Facebook post, the Gurnee police department said that on Tuesday a group of high school students from a neighboring community entered a local restaurant wearing ski masks and displayed water guns resembling firearms.