A teen in Indiana faces charges relating to a senior prank gone wrong. For years, the senior assassin prank has been popular among teens across the country. But it often has its dangers, which is likely something the kids still aren’t considering. They are only thinking about having fun and spending time with their friends or getting their intended target during the game. However, there are consequences if they’re not being responsible or perhaps taking the game a little too seriously. Adrian Williams, a senior at Portage High School in Indiana, is learning a hard lesson about playing too literally.
The teen waited in broad daylight in a public place.
On April 10, 2026, police in Portage received multiple 911 calls about an armed person in the parking lot of the Planet Fitness, WLS reported. While police are aware of the game, they believed they were responding to a real threat because school was in session.
“He was hiding himself. He was putting it in his pocket and kept pulling it back out,” callers told 911 dispatchers, according to footage obtained by NBC Chicago.
“Subject is outside with the gun in his right hand,” they said. “Male is walking inside with the gun in his right hand.”
Ten on-duty officers from the Portage Police Department showed up to the scene, along with two off-duty officers and a Porter County sheriff’s deputy. That’s when they found 18-year-old Williams inside of a car with a gun in the passenger compartment.
Police truly believed it was a real firearm.
In their police report, the officer noted that he genuinely believed the water gun was real until he was a few feet away from it.
Williams was arrested and charged with felony intimidation. As he was being detained, he told police that he was playing the game, and his target was inside the gym at the time.
“We understand that this game has been played by high school seniors in our area for a few years and this appears to have become a tradition,” Portage Police wrote in a Facebook post. “Unfortunately, we have previously had to respond to reports of Reckless Driving, Road Rage, and Carjacking, which were also associated with this game.”
The police didn’t suggest seniors stop playing the game, but did suggest using brightly colored water guns rather than anything that could be mistaken for a real gun.
“It is ultimately the duty of the young adults who engage in this game to conduct themselves in a safe, lawful manner that does not cause fear and panic within our community,” they concluded.
Williams’ mother spoke out about the incident.
Tiffany May expressed concern that her son got caught when there are many other teens in their area taking part in the prank.
“I wouldn’t want any child to go through this. It’s traumatizing and they have to live with that,” she told NBC Chicago. “He’s a bright kid. He has got a bright future. He’s got scholarships for football, for academics, and I just don’t want him to lose all that for this. It’s not worth it,” she said of her son.
She told WLS that Williams had received a full scholarship to Chicago’s Saint Xavier University, and expressed fear that he would lose his opportunity. However, she said she talked to the school and they assured the teen that this wouldn’t jeopardize anything.
“When I say I’ve never felt like I’ve been closer to death than Friday, I really mean it. I mean there’s about 4 or 5 guns pointed at me,” Williams told WLWT. He spent three days in the Porter County Jail, and has a court date on April 22.
