A Portage High School senior faces a felony intimidation charge after police said a game of “Senior Assassin” went awry and they received several reports about a man with a gun at Planet Fitness, bringing more than a dozen officers from two departments to investigate.
“Portage High School staff and Portage Police have warned students of this being both reckless and possibly dangerous,” a police incident report noted.
Adrian Williams, 18, of Portage, is charged with intimidation, a Level 6 felony, according to charging documents. He had an initial hearing Tuesday morning and has been released on $1,000 cash bond, according to online court records. His next court hearing is April 22.
“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,” Capt. Rob Maynard, the police department’s public information officer, said in a release. “Unfortunately, we have previously had to respond to reports of reckless driving, road rage and carjacking, which also were associated with this game.”
The charges, filed Monday, came after Williams’ arrest on Friday.
According to Maynard’s release, around 1:21 p.m. Friday, Portage Police were dispatched to Planet Fitness on U.S. 6 after a 911 caller reported a man outside of the business appeared to be waiting for someone to come out and was armed with a handgun.
The suspect, police said, was described as “nervous” and “hiding himself” by the front door.
Police provided examples of radio traffic sent to responding police units based on the 911 caller’s description, including “Subject is outside with the gun in his right hand” and “Firearm is gray with an extended magazine.”
The incident, Maynard said, resulted in all 10 on-duty Portage patrol officers, two off-duty officers and one on-duty Porter County Sheriff’s Department deputy responding to the scene.
“These officers responded with their emergency lights and sirens activated, from across the city as they believed this was an imminent active shooter situation. This emergency response put the officers and the community at unnecessary risk, as well as delayed responses to three other calls for service occurring simultaneously in the city,” Maynard said in the release.
Williams, police said, was found sitting in his car when police arrived. He was detained and told officers he was playing Senior Assassin.”
“An apparent firearm was visible in the passenger compartment of the vehicle that turned out to be a water gun. The officer noted in his report that the water gun appeared to be a genuine firearm until he was within a few feet of it,” police said.
According to the police report, one of the responding officers said the water gun “looked realistic from a distance. With my training and experience I would have believed the water pistol was a real firearm from ten feet away let alone a hundred feet away.”
Officers were aware that students were playing Senior Assassin, but since the 911 call came during school hours, they had even more reason to believe the event was a genuine emergency, Maynard said. Police don’t know why Williams and his intended target were not in school, since the incident occurred before dismissal.
A patrol supervisor contacted the Porter County Prosecutor’s Office and briefed them on the situation, police said. A deputy prosecutor authorized the charge of felony Intimidation, and Williams was transported to the Porter County Jail.
Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann said in a statement that he’s not ethically able to comment much about the case since it’s pending, but the charging decision was not made lightly and has taken into account input from Portage High School and the Portage Police Department.
“I have been told students who choose to participate in this non-school-sponsored event were cautioned about their behavior,” Germann said. “On this case, there was a report of an active shooter to which the 10 Portage Police officers responded, along with a member of the PCSD.”
Police responded appropriately while risking their lives and the lives of innocent community members traveling along U.S. 6, Germann said.
“Fortunately, the student was not shot, given the replica of the automatic weapon that clearly looked real even to the trained police. We considered the danger to the community, as well as considering a standard for future conduct,” Germann said. “We hope the seniors have fun, but without creating a potential lethal situation for a number of people.”
By charging Williams with a Level 6 felony instead of a higher-level felony, Germann said, prosecutors have given themselves more options for disposition of the case.
Police, Maynard said, have viewed several online videos of Portage High School seniors playing Senior Assassin using brightly-colored water guns that do not give the appearance of actual firearms and did not involve reckless driving or other dangerous behavior, resulting only in creating great memories.
“Unfortunately, there are outliers who have caused fear and panic to our community by their actions. 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,” Maynard said.
In an email to the Post-Tribune, Melissa Deavers, communications director for the Portage Township schools, said school staff is not affiliated with the Senior Assassin game. “As this is a police matter, we do not have further comment.”
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
