Lucas Tinkham stalked his prey, Jackson McHale, creeping up to his car with a water gun in hand. Tinkham stood tall with a smirk across his face, opening the car door, then squirting McHale in the arm. It was the first kill of this year’s Senior Assassin.
The first takedown started when Tinkham texted McHale, tricking him into thinking that he had his twin sister, Grace McHale, as his target. After informing Jackson about his “fake” target, Tinkham then snuck into position. Hiding behind Jackson’s car, waiting for Grace to come out, Tinkham stayed strapped. Jackson continued to walk out of his house into his car with leisure. After getting in his car, Tinkham jumped into action, pulling open his car door, and executing the elimination of Jackson in his front seat.
“The moment I was eliminated I thought my car door was locked as I was waiting to drive my sister to school,” said Jackson McHale. “Then my door was opened and I was shot and out of the game. I was completely surprised and had no words after realizing I was out. Being the first one out really stung for the first day.”
Senior Assassin is a common game among high school seniors. The game consists of participants signing up, getting a randomized target, then trying to eliminate their target using a water gun. The overall goal is to be the last one standing. Usually, there is a set period, rules and regulations, and different techniques that vary between schools. The game is a fun way for seniors to create memories before walking across the stage and leaving high school behind.
This year, a new rule was proposed: wearing floaties and goggles would result in targets being “safe” from elimination. The game started on April 1 at midnight, and when most Triton students were sleeping, some seniors lay awake waiting to get sent out their target’s name. Tinkham said he woke up at 6 a.m. to find and plan to execute his first target. After eliminating McHale, he eliminated his second target, which he inherited McHale, later that day. From there, the game has continued for more nearly three weeks. As of press time, there had been 41 eliminations, with just over half the players remaining.
It was a quick first few days of eliminations. Ashley Sabino has proved a sneaky, yet effective assassin thus far, eliminating two people already. First, she stalked Cole Sanders following his car to Dunkin. Once Cole walked out of the store, she hopped out of the car and not only sprayed Cole but an innocent bystander as well. A few days later she caught Josh Hersey leaving the gym.
“I plan to do what I have always been doing and just wait for them to come outside,” she said.
Mason Colby has risen to the top of the leaderboard with four kills. These eliminations consisted of Sam Imlach at the gym, Bradyn Lopes at a convenience store, and Corbin Allen and Brian Clark in their driveways.
“I just plan to find them going out, nothing too crazy right now. I just got two kills the other day so I’m not really going too hard,” said Colby.
Connor Rumph recently obtained his first elimination. He texted Joe Niska asking to go to the gym. Once Niska was walking into the gym, Rumph ran up behind him and sprayed him, to which Niska replied, “I hate you.”
“I feel pretty good after eliminating someone even though it was one of my friends. It was nice to see my plan come together,” said Rumph.
At the other end of the spectrum, the game has not been so nice. Students, including Alex Pasquini were tricked and betrayed by his friends. His strategy was simple: “go outside and don’t get out,” he said, but that clearly didn’t work out. He was walking to his friend’s car to go home, but when he opened the door, Josh Hersey was sitting there waiting for him. Ultimately, the game lost one of the greats that night.
An elimination attempt that took four hours to complete involved the elimination of Ashley Jones. Luke Sullivan, pulled up to her work at Anna Jaques Hospital and parked behind her car, boxing her in. Jones saw this and decided to get a ride home from her coworker instead, which led to a low-speed chase, Sullivan then went back to Anna Jaques and tied a fridge to Jones’s car, knowing she would have to come back for her car eventually. With the assistance of Tinkham ripping off her floating, Sullivan shot her.
“It was one of the most embarrassing things to happen to me,” said Jones.
