(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A competition among high schoolers known as Paranoia led to a police response in north suburban Northfield last year that could have ended tragically.
The role-playing game involves a bracket-style tournament of people using Nerf guns to ambush and "shoot” their targets with foam darts or bullets.
Now, officials in the village of Northfield are sharing details with The Record about a close call involving a high school student in April 2022.
Police were sent to the home of a local police official after a 9-1-1 dispatch about someone outside the house armed with a gun and wearing a mask and camouflage.
Officers raced to the scene and reportedly pulled their guns on the individual.
The suspect ended up being a 17-year-old boy carrying a Nerf gun that was spray-painted black.
The student told police he was pursuing an opponent while playing Paranoia, which also goes by the name Assassins.
School officials and parents say the playing the game in the current climate of active-shooter incidents could lead to tragedy.
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