Gilbert police are warning teens about realistic water guns after string of calls. Here's why

Gilbert police warned the community, specifically teenagers, about the dangers of playing with toy water guns out in public after several similar calls.

On Oct. 19, Gilbert police asked the public in a Facebook post to help inform kids that it could be dangerous for them to play out in the open with realistic toy water guns, which they said could look like a threat to officers or community members.

This situation arose from a flurry of similar calls from people in the Gilbert area, including one just a few days earlier.

On Oct. 16, Gilbert police said in the post that they received a call of someone running through a business' parking lot with a gun. An officer responded to the area and found two teenagers, one who had "what appeared to be a white firearm in his possession."

Police said the teenagers immediately told the officer that the gun in question was a water gun and that they were playing a game known as "assassin." They explained it was a game being played by teenagers across the country that centers around eliminating other students from the game throughout the year by spraying them with the water gun.

Police said this incident is one of several reported to them in recent months and wanted to spread awareness about the potential dangers of playing with realistic toy guns where others cannot tell that it is not real.

"We would like the community to please help us in sharing the risks associated with kids playing with realistic toy water guns which can be perceived by our officers or the public as a threat."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert police: Teens warned about using realistic water guns after calls