What is LAHS Senior Assassin?
The well-beloved tradition of an LAHS senior-only parody of the popular game “Assassin” thas been around for years. The purpose? For seniors to have their fun before they graduate.
“It’s kind of like a send-off,” senior Keyon Raissinia said.
Every senior participating was assigned a random student as their target to “assassinate.” Students must shoot their designated target with a water gun, oftentimes with the help of friends. The original targets of the eliminated senior are notified that they’re safe until the next round begins.
It’s really, really fun, and it’s kind of funny, watching my friends [assassinate] people and get [assassinated]. I think it’s a lovely tradition.
— senior Jordan Rahmfeld
Rounds happen over the course of a week. Every Friday, another round begins and students are assigned someone new to eliminate by 9 p.m. on the following Thursday. If a senior successfully eliminates their target, they’re able to go onto the next round — that is, if they’re able to avoid getting eliminated themselves. If someone is assassinated or unable to assassinate their target by the Thursday deadline, then they’re out.
“Watching your back 24-by-7 and making sure you’re wearing a floatie does take a bit of effort and time,” senior Jordan Rahmfeld said. “But it’s really, really fun, and it’s kind of funny, watching my friends [assassinate] people and get [assassinated]. I think it’s a lovely tradition.”
Where and when can you assassinate someone?
Wearing floaties or goggles on the neck or above grants seniors immunity. However, floaties don’t count on “Purge Day” (Thursday). There is a 10-minute “grace period” before and after school on Thursdays that allows people to get to and from school without being eliminated.
There’s an importance to the public humiliation of the floaty.
— senior Sylvie Patterson
To participate, seniors must download location-sharing app Life360 onto their phones and have their location available at all times. Assassinations are banned during school hours or at school-related events, including concerts, sports games or club events. Students are only allowed to assassinate their target in their home if they are invited in.
Instagram Stardom
In order for “kills” to count, students must capture their assassination on film. These videos are posted to the Senior Assassin Instagram account, @la_assassin_24. Despite the already-established tradition of using Instagram to publicize and announce updates, the game has reached new levels of internet fame this year.
Videos of every assassination, which are posted as reels on the account, average viewership in the tens of thousands. The most viral video, featuring senior Manu Shankar eliminating senior Sofia Stepanov, has reached 2.2 million views as of Tuesday, April 2.
“I remember seeing that it got around the same number of views as the rest of the other videos when it was first posted, but then after a few days, it really blew up,” Manu said. “It’s just been a mini moment of Internet fame I guess!”
Best Snipes
A high speed chase — on car and foot
Having a failed first assassination attempt, Kelly O’Neal knew she’d have to meticulously create another plan to eliminate her target Margo Huizar-Orozco before time ran out.
The minute the bell rang after seventh period, Kelly took off across campus — however, by the time she reached her last recorded location on Life360, Margo had disappeared.
And so the chase began. Kelly jumped in her car and began following Margo, picking up friend and senior Noor Khan on the way. The two followed her all the way to a Chevron gas station, where they planned a sneak attack. However, at the last second, Margo fled, nearly escaping the splash zone. Some say she taunted her perpetrators by flipping the bird, but that’s all speculation of course.
“Then it was a high-speed chase — all within legal limits, of course,” Kelly said.
Kelly and Noor were led on a wild goose chase, giving up when Margo drove onto the highway. Later that night, Kelly checked the Instagram account and realized that Margo had not gotten her target — there was still hope. In a moment of desperation, she bargained with the enemy.
“So I texted Margo being like, ‘Hey, would it be possible for me to come over and shoot you?’” Kelly said.
And so the deal was made for the two to meet at 8:30 a.m. But in the spur of the moment, Kelly decided to strike early. Noor and Kelly grabbed their gear and went to where Margo was, but as soon as Margo caught a glimpse of them, she took off!
“That girl, she’s a sprinter!” Noor exclaimed, “I’m wondering if she’s on track and field.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast before,” Kelly agreed.
Eventually, the two caught up to her, ending the night victorious. Mission accomplished, the first one in the books for Kelly
(image courtesy Kelly O’Neal)
Purge day kill
Having senior Sofia Stepanov as his Senior Assassin assignment turned senior Manu Shankar into a Life360 stalker.
“I had run into Sofia at Diddums on Saturday, but she had goggles on so I wasn’t able to get her,” Manu said.
Realizing Sofia’s immunity was the biggest obstacle, Manu decided Thursday would be his best chance to eliminate her.
Manu knew Sofia had a free third period, so he took the initiative starting Thursday morning to find where Sofia parked that day. Through Life360, he found the general area of Sofia’s car, near Jordan Avenue, and took a few friends with him to witness the scene.
“Right after first period, I raced out of class and went to the back of the school,” Manu said. “I met with a couple of friends and we hid behind the bushes and the sides of houses on Casita Way, while I was tracking Sofia on the Life360 app.”
When Manu noticed Sofia was finally off-campus, it was go-time.
“As soon as I saw she left campus, my friends and I cut her off so she couldn’t escape,” Manu said. “I actually forgot to record when we chased her initially, so that’s why we got the second angle of me just shooting her for evidence on the Instagram account.”
(image from @la_assassin_24 via Instagram)
Toughest Targets
Cornered
Putting in the (assassin) reps
Sylvie Patterson embarked on her second kill of Senior Assassin with true determination. She had to uphold her reputation after eliminating senior Nathaniel Guillory the previous week, and nothing was going to stop her.
Conveniently, her target, senior Andrew Campos, goes to the same gym as her. When she and her friend Kelly realized he was there, they took the opportunity to scope out the scene. As luck would have it, Andrew was unarmed and unprotected, and so Sylvie took the chance to pounce!
Andrew nearly escaped Sylvie by running into the gender-neutral bathroom, but she followed him right in, eliminating him before he had the chance to lock the door.
“Devoured,” Sylvie wrote in the caption under the recording of the elimination.
(image courtesy Sylvie Patterson)
Fame at the price of being sniped
Senior Sophie Kim hadn’t even bought a water gun, let alone a floaty, when she was sniped in Walgreens. Ironically enough, she and her friends were on the way to buy assassin supplies, when she turned down an aisle and boom —, suddenly she’s staring down the barrel of senior Camille Steciw’s water gun.
“I turn around and I get water in my face, right between the eyes,” Sophie said.
Sophie was shocked to say the least. In fact her reaction was so genuine it garnered six hundred and seventy-three thousand views on Instagram.
(image from @la_assassin_24 via Instagram)
