An 18-year-old high school senior in Indiana spent three days in jail after his toy water gun was mistaken for a real firearm, prompting a large police response. Adrian Williams, a student at Portage High School, was charged with felony intimidation following the incident on Friday at a Planet Fitness on U.S. Highway 6 in Portage.
According to the Portage Police Department, multiple 911 callers reported an individual armed with a firearm featuring an extended magazine. Because local schools were in session, authorities treated the reports as an active threat. Thirteen police officers responded, including ten on-duty Portage officers, two off-duty officers and a Porter County sheriff’s deputy.
Officers located Williams inside a vehicle and found a toy water gun in the passenger compartment. Although the toy is marketed for children as young as three, police said its appearance was realistic enough to trigger a high-risk response. “This emergency response put the officers and the community at unnecessary risk as well as delayed responses to three other calls for service,” police said in a statement.
Williams told investigators he had been playing a game called “senior assassins” and was waiting for his target outside the gym. Police acknowledged the game is a local tradition among high school seniors but noted they had previously responded to reports of reckless driving, road rage and carjacking linked to the game.
Williams’ mother described him as an honour roll student and a football player with a full scholarship to St. Xavier University, which confirmed his financial aid is not in jeopardy. A commenter on the police department’s social media statement, who knew Williams personally, described him as a hardworking and kind young man, adding: “Was the water gun suspicious, yes. But after determining it was a water gun he shouldn’t have been charged.”
