Ocean Springs police, school district warn against dangerous ‘Junior-Senior War’ activities

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WXXV) — Following two serious incidents involving Ocean Springs teens over the weekend, the police department along with the school district have issued warnings to students and parents about the consequences of illegal or harmful activities.

This is the time of year when high school students typically participate in what they call “Junior-Senior Wars” ahead of homecoming celebrations, but what starts be fun and games can quickly turn dangerous — and have life-altering consequences. That’s the message Police Chief Steven Dye is trying to get across to the community.

“You know, when it escalates up to students using things that can hurt their peers or friends or something, that’s where the fun and games are over. Now it’s serious – when you start hurting people. So, we wanna definitely steer people away from that, cause, like I said, at the end of the day, we don’t want them making a mistake – something they’re charged criminally for, and you know, the next day they realize they’ve done this because they took a prank a little too far.”

Ocean Springs police are now investigating two incidents involving teens. In one case, a teen was left partially blind after being struck in the eye by a projectile fired from an Orbeez-style gun. Police have not identified a suspect in that case.

In another incident, pepper spray and BB guns were involved, sending one teen to the hospital and another is now facing a charge of simple assault. Chief Dye is encouraging parents to talk with their children about the potentially long-lasting consequences of participating in activities like these.

“The thing to remember, you know, I tell the parents and guardians, ‘Speak to your kids about don’t go out and do anything that’s gonna harm somebody – property damage, shooting any type of BB gun, Orbeez gun, paintball gun – something that shoots a projectile or you can inadvertently hit somebody and injure them.’ So, we really wanna caution them to not go out and do anything that they’re gonna regret at a later time,” said Chief Dye. “Don’t get in dark clothing and start going through yards. You can scare homeowners. They may think they have a burglar on their property, or something like that. So, we understand kids are gonna go out and have fun, and do this stuff, but let’s not harm other people , doing anything that could possibly hurt somebody or damage property of others.”

Ocean Springs School District released a statement regarding the incidents, saying in part, that “Junior-Senior Wars” is not a school-affiliated event, and warning that property owners have the right to file charges against those who damage or vandalize their property or cause bodily harm.

Superintendent Justin Sutton says there are multiple ways for students to celebrate homecoming week that don’t involve illegal or dangerous activities.

“You know, unfortunately sometimes we see in those events like over the weekend, we see situations where people deal with significant consequences – we have an injury to one person, and we have another person who was arrested – and when you see those things happen, those are long term consequences happening in a moment’s decision,” said Superintendent Sutton. “So, we just want to encourage everybody to keep themselves out of a situation where things could go south, and just celebrate things the right way, and enjoy homecoming and the week in an appropriate manner.”

Both Chief Dye and Superintendent Sutton say they hope there are no further incidents this week leading up to homecoming. The goal is for students, parents, and the entire community to be able to enjoy the homecoming festivities safely and responsibly.