Water Wars and Senior Assassin Are Back in Michigan: What Students, Parents, and Residents Need to Know About the Real Legal Risks
Michigan Legal Center News Desk | April 21, 2026 | Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan
Sources: CBS Detroit (Paula Wethington), WDIV ClickOnDetroit (Shawnte Passmore), published April 21, 2026
Water Wars and Senior Assassin in Michigan 2026: Legal Risks Students and Parents Need to Know | The Michigan Legal Center
| QUICK ANSWER: Water Wars/Senior Assassin in Michigan — The Legal Picture | |
|---|---|
| What is the game? | "Water Wars" or "Senior Assassin" is a bracket-style elimination game played by high school seniors. Players pay entry fees (typically $15) and compete to "eliminate" opponents by squirting them with water guns. Last year's Royal Oak winning team split roughly $3,000. The game is not school-sponsored. |
| Where is it happening? | Police departments across Southeast Michigan, including Shelby Township (Eisenhower, Utica HS), Royal Oak, Northville, Hazel Park, Canton, Dundee, and Monroe County, issued warnings in spring 2026. Identified schools include Northville, Eisenhower, Utica, and Royal Oak High Schools. |
| What are the real legal risks for students? | Trespassing on private property without permission is a criminal offense in Michigan. Running from police or hiding from officers during the game can trigger separate charges. Using a realistic-looking water gun in public can lead to a police confrontation with potentially deadly consequences. Unsafe driving during the game can result in reckless driving charges. Juvenile curfew violations apply in many participating jurisdictions. |
| What about the prize money? | Entry fees collected and prize pools may raise questions under Michigan gambling laws if the game is structured as a game of chance. If organized as a game of skill, the analysis is different. Students and organizers should understand this before collecting money from participants. |
| What should residents do? | Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough specifically advised residents not to approach students they see in suspicious situations. Call 911 and let law enforcement respond. Do not confront unknown individuals who may or may not be playing the game. |
| If a student is injured or arrested | The Michigan Legal Center, Law Offices of Christopher Trainor & Associates represents juveniles and families when what started as a spring game ends in criminal charges, an injury, or a confrontation with law enforcement. Call (248) 886-8650 for a free consultation. |
Every spring in Metro Detroit, as seniors start counting the weeks until graduation, the water guns come out.
"Water Wars" and "Senior Assassin" have been making the rounds through high school parking lots, backyards, and neighborhood streets for years. The game is simple: form a team, pay your entry fee, and try to eliminate your opponents with a water gun before they get to you. Last year's winners at Royal Oak High School split about $3,000. This year, students from Northville to Eisenhower to Monroe County are at it again.
And again, police departments across Southeast Michigan have issued warnings.
Not because the game is inherently dangerous. Not because every student playing it is going to end up in trouble. But because the combination of realistic-looking water guns, nighttime play, strangers' backyards, and the kind of adrenaline that comes with any competitive elimination game creates conditions where something can go wrong fast.
"It was mostly done under the light of darkness. And it was: 'Hey, there's four or five, looks like teenagers in my backyard with what looks like guns.' That's kind of where it started to lay the foundation." — Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough
Seven police departments have now issued public notices about the game this spring: Shelby Township, Northville, Hazel Park, Canton, Dundee, Royal Oak, and Monroe County. Each notice carries a version of the same message: know the rules, respect the community, and understand what the law actually says before a water gun game becomes something much harder to walk away from.
The Students Speak for Themselves, and They Deserve to Be Heard
The students who play this game are not reckless. They are seniors in the last months of high school, trying to create a shared memory before everyone goes their separate ways. That is worth saying plainly before listing legal risks.
"It's just kind of a nonviolent way for all the seniors to kind of come together, get one last activity done as a group before we all go our own separate ways," said James Wegehaupt II, a 17-year-old Royal Oak senior.
"I would say that we're just trying to have fun with our friends the last year of high school," said Trey O'Sayer, 18. "We're not trying to harm anyone."
Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough put it plainly: "We want our young teenagers to enjoy life. There's enough turmoil going on."
He is not asking students to stop. Neither is this article. Both are asking students and their parents to understand what the law provides when things go sideways. Because when they do, the consequences are real and they move fast.
The Legal Risks Students and Parents Need to Understand
Trespassing: The Most Common Criminal Exposure
Every Michigan jurisdiction participating in this year's game has mentioned trespassing. It is not a minor concern. Under MCL 750.552, entering or remaining on private property without permission is a criminal misdemeanor in Michigan, carrying up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine for a first offense. More serious situations, including entering an occupied dwelling, can be charged as a felony.
Students who enter a neighbor's yard to "eliminate" an opponent, even briefly, even without intending any harm, are committing trespass if they do not have explicit permission to be there. The property owner does not need to confront them. A report to police is enough to start a process that can follow a student into college applications and employment background checks.
The fix is simple: get permission before the game begins. If an opponent lives somewhere you plan to stake out, contact the household first. Sheriff Goodnough said it directly: "Make sure if you're doing it at your home that you let your neighbors know and respect everybody else's property."
Realistic-Looking Water Guns and the Police Response Problem
This is the risk that law enforcement is most concerned about. Water guns have become increasingly realistic-looking. Some closely resemble handguns and rifles. A person driving past a group of teenagers at dusk, one of whom appears to be holding a firearm, will call 911. Police responding to a report of armed individuals in a residential neighborhood are operating under a very different set of assumptions than the students playing a game.
Michigan does not have a statewide law specifically prohibiting realistic imitation firearms in public. However, possessing a realistic-looking toy in circumstances that cause reasonable fear can support charges, including brandishing under MCL 750.234e or disorderly conduct. More importantly, it creates a scenario in which a student who runs or reaches for an object during a police confrontation may face a response that no legal framework can fully undo after the fact.
Northville police put it directly:
"Although a student who is carrying the look-a-like weapon knows that it is a water gun, the person making the report or responding to the threat does not."
Hazel Park Police went further, urging students to use only water guns "that resemble squirt guns, not real firearms." That is the right standard. Brightly colored, obviously toy-like water guns eliminate ambiguity. Realistic-looking ones do not.
Running or Hiding from Police
Several police departments have addressed this directly. If you see police while playing the game, do not run. Do not hide. Stop, explain what you are doing, and cooperate.
Under Michigan law, fleeing or attempting to evade a police officer can result in charges entirely separate from whatever prompted the officer's attention in the first place. MCL 750.479a makes it a misdemeanor to resist or obstruct a police officer. The instinct to run during an elimination game is understandable. The legal consequences are not worth it.
"If you see the police, do not run or hide; explain to the officers what you are doing and cooperate," the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said in its public notice.
Unsafe Driving
Water Wars is not played only on foot. Students often drive to opponents' locations, stake out houses, or make quick getaways after an elimination. When the game becomes competitive, driving behavior can reflect that: speeding, running red lights, or making sudden stops and U-turns. Police departments have specifically warned that unsafe driving during the game can result in reckless driving charges under MCL 257.626, which is a misdemeanor on the first offense and a felony if someone is injured or killed.
One month of senior year is not worth a reckless driving conviction. That is a record that shows up on background checks and can affect professional licensing and insurance rates for years. If another person is hurt in a crash tied to the game, a Michigan car accident claim follows, with real civil liability attached.
Juvenile Curfew Laws
Northville police specifically reminded students about juvenile curfew laws in their jurisdiction and others. Most Michigan cities and townships have ordinances restricting the hours minors can be in public unsupervised. A student playing Water Wars at midnight in a jurisdiction with a curfew is violating that ordinance, regardless of how innocent the activity is. Add a realistic-looking water gun and a neighbor's 911 call to the mix, and the situation escalates quickly.
Parents should check curfew ordinances in the communities where their children are likely to play. These vary by municipality, and most have exceptions for certain activities, but a competitive water gun game at 1 a.m. is unlikely to qualify.
The Prize Money Question
At Royal Oak High School, the 2025 winning team split approximately $3,000 pooled from $15 entry fees. This structure, where participants pay money into a pool and compete to win it, touches the edges of Michigan's gambling laws.
Michigan law distinguishes between games of chance (gambling, generally regulated) and games of skill (generally unregulated). Senior Assassin as a competition of physical skill and strategy likely falls on the skill side of that line. But the analysis depends on specific facts, including how the game is structured, whether elimination is based on skill or chance, and how the money is handled. Students organizing large-scale competitions with significant prize pools should understand this before collecting entry fees from dozens of participants.
What Residents Should Know: Do Not Approach
Monroe County Sheriff Goodnough's advice to residents who spot suspicious activity deserves to be highlighted directly.
"I would probably resist on approaching them, because you don't know: is this a group of young teenagers playing a game, or is this truly someone that's out to perpetrate a crime? You don't want to put yourself in harm's way." — Sheriff Troy Goodnough, Monroe County
This is not only good advice for residents' personal safety. It is also legally relevant. A resident who confronts unknown individuals and escalates a situation can face legal consequences of their own, depending on how the confrontation unfolds. Call 911. Describe what you see. Let officers respond and sort it out.
If a Student Is Charged or Injured: What Michigan Law Provides
Most of the time, Water Wars ends with nothing more than wet clothes and good memories. But when it does not, legal consequences can arrive faster than families expect.
A trespassing charge, disorderly conduct citation, or reckless driving ticket is not automatically a minor offense. For students applying to colleges, seeking scholarships, or pursuing licensed professions, a misdemeanor on a juvenile record can create real obstacles. Michigan does have expungement options for juvenile offenses under MCL 712A.18e, but the process requires legal guidance and is not automatic.
If a student is injured during the game, whether from a car crash, a fall, a confrontation with another player, or a police encounter, Michigan's legal framework provides remedies that depend entirely on the specific facts. An injury caused by another student's reckless driving triggers Michigan No-Fault PIP benefits and potentially a third-party negligence claim. Injuries sustained on someone else's property may raise premises liability questions.
If a confrontation with law enforcement results in an injury or a civil rights violation, that is a territory where we have won before. When a police officer fractured a man's neck outside his own home, the Michigan Legal Center won $5.8 million. When a police department violated a resident's rights, we took it to verdict. We take those cases because we believe the law should protect everyone, including teenagers playing a water gun game in their neighborhoods.
If your student has been charged, injured, or otherwise caught up in legal consequences from this spring's game, Christopher Trainor and his team want to hear from you. The conversation is free.
Call (248) 886-8650 to speak with the Michigan Legal Center today.
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