LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — For over a decade, seniors at Los Alamitos High School have been participating in the traditional senior game, senior assassin. Facilitated through an app, the game involves teams of students who must ‘assassinate’ their secretly assigned target with a water gun, protected only at school, work, place of worship or while visibly wearing swim goggles. The game originated as a fundraiser for the Casa Youth Shelter, dedicating half of the player fee to helping homeless or struggling youth in the Los Alamitos area. 

Today, the game is run through the ‘Splashin’ app, and the pool of money collected from participants — known as the bounty — is awarded to the final surviving team of two. The app allows students to track their target’s location by having all participants consent to GPS tracking; this GPS has become a crucial part of the modern rendition of the tradition. With roughly 400 students participating in the class of 2026, the bounty is enviable: roughly $800. 

Despite being considered a quintessential senior activity, the event is not facilitated nor does it have any involvement with LAHS. While there are multiple narratives regarding how the game master has historically been selected, this year, the game was originally administered by ASB secretary Colby Ledterman. 

“Colby’s job is like a jack-of-all-trades. If there’s something important, she’s in charge,” said ASB spirit member and senior assassin participant Magnus Hennessy.

The commotion regarding this year’s game is suspected to originate from the increase in competition amongst students.

 On Jan. 6, two days after the start of the game, an email was sent out to parents and students regarding the school’s safety concerns, lack of endorsement and repercussions for participating. 

“My main concern is for student safety and well-being,” said Assistant Principal of Student Services and Attendance, Mr. Bowen. 

Many students sought to eliminate their target while in a particularly vulnerable position: commuting to and from school, practice and other school-sanctioned activities. Players also eliminated one another in restaurants, gyms and other community spaces. Not even 24 hours after the foreboding email was sent, Ledterman transferred game admin powers to an anonymous source and asked Hennessy to help run the game; Hennessy met with Mr. Bowen and sent the new rule via the chat function in the Splashin app. Part of these new conditions included clearing the Instagram account dedicated to the account of the videos required as proof for assassinating a target. Hennessy emphasised that the new guidelines aim to promote safety and prevent disruption, both to the school community and the Los Alamitos community at large.

“I’m just making sure people follow the rules, you know,” said Hennessy, echoing Mr. Bowen’s words and sentiment.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Sophia Shalbey

New gamemaster Magnus Hennessey relays the new senior assassin rules to players via the app splashin.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Colby Ledterman and Magnus Hennessy’s names. This was corrected on Jan. 22 at 11:03 a.m.