‘Assassins’ Continues in Needham

May 9, 2025
• The annual tradition endures in Needham, absent public safety incidents that have occured in other communities.

Of the more than 400 graduating seniors at Needham High School, 257 armed themselves with water guns last month, preparing to spray an unsuspecting friend or classmate in parking lots, front yards and elsewhere in town.

Senior assassins, played widely across the country’s high schools, mimics hide-and-seek — participants hunt out their target and shoot them with water, eliminating them from the game. As of late last week, around 70 Needham students were still playing, according to its organizers, and it’s expected to conclude before graduation in early June.

While some view the game as harmless fun, others warn it could lead to dangerous situations and outcomes. Needham seniors largely fall into the former category.

One of Needham’s organizers, who requested anonymity following discussion about the game on the town Facebook page, said other senior activities are under the school’s jurisdiction and are therefore “kind of tame.” Rides to their senior prom, for example, are organized entirely by the school, she said.

Senior assassins presents an opportunity for the senior class to come together “beyond Needham High,” she said.

“When you get into a school that’s this big, there are kids you never speak to, and you could get paired up with one of them for assassins, and it just forces you to diversify who you’re speaking to at the end of the year,” she said.

Participating seniors view the game as a source for connection and end-of-year fun, outside the limits and watchful eye of school administration, but in other communities, it’s resulted in emergency calls and heightened safety concerns.

In Hopkinton, police recently responded to a 911 call regarding someone brandishing what appeared to be a firearm, which turned out to actually be a water gun associated with a senior assassin game. In a more serious incident in Jacksonville, Florida, a teenager participating in the game was shot by police while outside someone’s home in the early morning. Another senior in Utah faces a felony terrorism charge in connection with the game.

Online, some locals have expressed opposition for the game, citing related police incidents in other communities, while others say that, given its history in the town and, consequently, residents’ awareness of the game, it does not pose any real risk.

Needham Police have not received calls about the game, nor have they been involved, Chief John Schlittler said.

“The kids have been responsible, and we have historically not had any issues regarding the game,” Schlittler wrote via email.

Administrators for Needham’s senior assassins list a series of rules dictating its game, reminding participants they cannot spray anyone actively driving or within their home unless invited inside. “NO TRESPASSING,” the guidelines state. An organizer added that squirt guns can’t be made to look like a real weapon and can’t be black.

This year’s iteration has, however, resulted in some conflict, particularly when seniors enter other students’ homes. “The lines with that get a little blurry,” an organizer said, “but it’s nothing that can’t pretty easily be worked out.”

“Being able to play this game is a privilege, and we don’t want to be disrupting other people in the town. We don’t want to cause harm to neighbors and regular civilians, we don’t want to freak people out, and you don’t want to do anything that would cause someone to feel violated or like their privacy is being taken over,” she said. “I think that that’s one place where we have fallen short and that has fallen short in the past with students is just respecting everyone else around them.”

While the game is not sanctioned by the school, students have historically respected its limitations and don’t play on school grounds, Principal Aaron Sicotte said. The nature of the game, however, “can lead to unsafe choices,” he said, namely because it’s not formally organized.

“I love student efforts to create a sense of community and to build spirit. I think there needs to be as much of that in a high school experience as possible,” Sicotte said. “I don’t know that assassins is the best way of doing that, though, given that it does lead to some pretty unsafe behaviors, and even if they try and put in place some parameters that keep it as safe as possible, there is no one who’s overseeing it to be the referee, to say, ‘Hey, you crossed the line there.’”

Should a situation arise, parents or parents could step in to handle it, Sicotte said, but not the school, unless the game begins disrupting the learning environment or “spilling into the building.”

Sicotte said the school would not sponsor the game in the future, given that it would likely be “wildly disruptive” to seniors and the three other grades.

Seniors pay to play — the buy-in is $12 — leading to fierce competition and occasional spats, an organizer said. Their set of rules help settle those disputes, she said.

An Instagram page dedicated to Needham’s senior assassins has more than 1,000 followers and posts videos of seniors shooting their classmates. The attacker and their victim pose for a photo after each successful elimination.

The NHS Class of 2021 celebrated the game’s return post-COVID, and it’s something seniors look forward to in their final spring on campus with their peers, an organizer said.

“It’s a fun way for everyone to connect with people, especially people they don’t necessarily know,” she said. “Senior spring, in my eyes, is very much [about] spending time in Needham and spending time with this community… It’s bittersweet and exciting.”

Other Massachusetts police departments advise “senior assassins” not to trespass, to use brightly colored squirt guns and avoid playing at night.