New London — Frank Colmenares was surrounded. He recognized the two cars that pulled up alongside his, so he hurried to lock the doors and make sure all his windows were rolled up.

The people who were now circling his car were armed to the teeth and began taunting him.

"You're going to have to get out," they told him. "We're going to wait for you. It's only water."

Trapped in his own car, Colmenares tried to roll down his window just a bit to reason with his tormentors. But he was done in when the automatic window opened all the way.

In mere seconds, someone reached through the window, unlocked the door and yanked Colmenares onto the sidewalk.

Showing no mercy, the half-dozen combatants opened fire on Colmenares, drenching him to the bone with their water guns.

In some ways, Colmenares, 25, brought his watery demise upon himself. Last week, he organized New London Water Wars, a citywide water gun fight that is expected to be waged throughout the summer.

“It’s like real-life ‘Call of Duty’ with water,” he said, referring to the warfare-themed video game franchise. “It’s like a bunch of big kids out there.”

Since Saturday, more than 400 people have signed up to take part in the war by liking the New London Water Wars page on Facebook. Some participants have organized into crews with names like “Splash Brothers,” “Legends Never Die” and “All ‘Bout Water.”

Colmenares worked with police officer and City Councilor Anthony Nolan to establish a set of guidelines to keep the war from getting out of hand: only soak people who have agreed to participate in the battle, use only water in the squirt guns, no stopping traffic, don’t break any laws or intrude on private property and no shooting into or out of cars.

“It’s a great way for kids to cool down and have fun,” Nolan said. “The big thing is just being safe about it.”

There are no timeouts, though combatants are safe if they’re on their way to or already at work. Other than that, Colmenares said, once you’re signed up, you’re vulnerable to be soaked to the bone at any time.

“Once you like the Facebook page, it’s on — all day every day. If you’re seen coming out of your house, it’s live,” he said. “There is this rush of always looking over your shoulder. Someone could be watching you or waiting to get you.”

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 p.m., the participants will gather at a designated war zone for an all-out blitzkrieg until everyone is soaked. Colmenares said he will announce the location of the war zone in advance on the event’s Facebook page.

“I wanted to make sure the kids could be involved, so we’re going to pick some areas with a high volume of children,” Colmenares said. “I’ll go out there with 12 or 13 water guns I’ll buy to give out to kids I see without guns so that everybody who wants to can be involved.”

The No. 1 rule, Colmenares said, is to have fun and be safe. He said he hopes the battle will bring people together for some fun and healthy competition during the hot days of summer.

And though water gun fights are often associated with childhood, New London Water Wars is open to people of all ages willing to have some child-like fun. Already, local attorneys, school teachers, bus drivers and others have enlisted for battle.

“There are kids out there who are 5, 7 or 9 years old and their parents are now getting involved, too,” Colmenares said. “It’s part of bridging the gap in the community.”

As a police officer and city councilor, Nolan is a popular target. Early Wednesday morning, Nolan said, about a dozen young people had gathered outside his house to ambush him with super soakers.

“There hasn’t been one day when there haven’t been kids or young adults outside to get me,” Nolan said Wednesday. “But today I was able to spray them with the hose before they got me.”

Colmenares said he hopes other elected officials and authority figures get involved, too, to connect different segments of the community.

“We’ve reached out to elected officials and people who work in the city to try to bridge that gap, too,” he said. “Hopefully we can show the kids that authority figures are real people from our community. They’re not just someone in a uniform.”

The idea for New London Water Wars dates back to 2010, when four adults and several juveniles were arrested in connection with a water-gun fight that had gotten out of hand in the Truman-Hempstead street area.

Colmenares, who was not among those arrested, saw that the battles were bringing kids and adults together and reached out to Nolan, who helped organize a sanctioned water gun fight that drew more than 300 people to Bates Woods Park that summer.

“A lot of kids were having some issues with the police at the time, and I thought that it could be done without kids having to deal with the police involvement by trying to make it a little safer,” Nolan said. “We could still do the water wars but in a way that is safe and making sure we don’t step on the toes of anyone who isn’t involved.”

Colmenares said New London Water Wars 2015 has picked up steam faster than expected and said he thinks it will continue to grow as the summer heats up.

“When I drive through Boulder Drive, down by State Pier or down Connecticut Avenue and see the people at the basketball courts, everybody has their water guns within reach,” Colmenares said. “As the weeks progress and we get into August, I know it’s going to get even bigger.”

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung