DAVISON (DTV) – (5/12/26) – It’s a high school tradition for seniors that many see as some harmless fun before graduation–a game of “water wars.” But Davison Township police and Davison Community Schools are warning that this game nearly took a tragic, and potentially deadly, turn. A split-second decision by a local officer is being credited with preventing a disaster after a student jumped out of the shadows to “soak” what he thought was a fellow water wars target only to find himself staring down the barrel of an actual gun.
DTV recently spoke with Davison Township Police Chief, Jay Rendon and Davison Schools School Resource Officer Dexter Taylor. Chief Rendon is cautioning teens to really think before they take part in games like this. He walked us through what happened the night of the incident. The body cam footage from the night of the incident has been blurred and censored but it is still shocking.
Click HERE to watch the interview and breakdown of the footage.
Davison Community Schools shared the following letter with seniors of DHS/DAE and their parents on Saturday May 9th:
Dear Parents of Seniors:
We are reaching out today because we are very concerned that someone is going to get seriously hurt – or worse – as seniors engage in the game of “water wars” following an incident that occurred last night.
Davison Township Police Chief Jay Rendon said that one of his officers was responding to a 911 call regarding suspicious activity when he encountered a car parked in an area neighborhood with no one in it. The officer ran the plates and it didn’t belong to anyone in the area so he proceeded to check with neighbors, all of whom did not recognize the vehicle. At this point, according to Chief Rendon, the officer knew the vehicle didn’t belong in the area and suspected he could be dealing with a burglary in process. The officer noticed an opened fence at a nearby residence and proceeded to the yard to investigate. That is when a student jumped out at the officer, whose gun was drawn, and shot his squirt gun, getting the officer wet.
We are so very thankful that the officer, in spite of it being dark out, was able to determine that the student was not a threat and no one was hurt.
We are also aware that police have also responded to other calls regarding the water wars, such as speeding, trespassing and disruption to local businesses.
We have cautioned students through our Daily Announcements and DTV newscasts that these behaviors can be reported to police and lead to more serious consequences but after last night’s incident we are strongly encouraging students to simply stop playing this game before a seemingly harmless senior prank ends up with tragic results. Please talk with your student about the dangers and consequences involved in continuing to play water wars.
Matt Lobban, Superintendent
Davison Community Schools
You can watch the full body cam video HERE.
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