|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
DAVISON TWP., Mich. (BFMG) — Students are being warned after a water gun prank led police to a Davison Township neighborhood and prompted an officer to draw his gun during a suspicious activity call.
Davison Township police were called at 10:22 p.m. Friday, May 8, to the Townline East subdivision, where an 18-year-old was hiding behind a car, Police Chief Jay Rendon said. The responding officer approached from near a fence and thought he saw movement or a shadow, Rendon said.
Body camera footage released by the department shows the officer walking up to a vehicle in a driveway. As he rounded the front of the vehicle with his weapon drawn, the teen jumped out and hit him with a water gun, Rendon said.
“Once he was able to determine this was a kid with a squirt gun, he ordered him to the ground,” Rendon said.
The teen can be heard apologizing several times in the video as he kneels. The officer then tells him, “You just scared the absolute dog (expletive) out of me.”
“I’m a very lucky guy,” the teen says, and the officer agrees.
The officer later radioed that he was “all set” and that it was “some kid doing water wars.”
Rendon said the prank is part of a senior game in which students are assigned a “target” to squirt with a water gun. He said the teen involved is a Kearsley student and will not be charged.
In response, Davison Community Schools Superintendent Matt Lobban sent a letter to parents and students warning that someone could get hurt if the game continues. He said police have also been called to other incidents tied to the prank, including speeding, trespassing and disruptions at local businesses.
Lobban urged parents to talk with their children about the risks and consequences.
Rendon said the department has not seen other calls connected to the prank this year, but he recalled a similar disturbance last year at a Dairy Queen off Lapeer Road, where a target reportedly ran through the kitchen and jumped out a drive-thru window.
“Please be smart about this,” Rendon said. “Do not do anything on roadways, do not do anything in the dark. If you are going to use a water gun, make sure it is a highly visible, unmistakable water gun.”
He said homeowners could mistake the prank for a real threat.
“This was an incident that fortunately ended up the way it did, the best possible outcome,” Rendon said. “There are real serious consequences if it goes sideways.”
“We’re not saying you can’t do this. We’re not the fun police,” he said. “We just want you to go home in one piece.”
