Cops warn against the latest TikTok call in which pranksters shoot unsuspecting victims suing with gel bullets.
This craze, dubbed the Orbeez Challenge after the brand name of a widely used gel gun, resulted in injuries and criminal prosecutions.
In one video captured by a Ring surveillance camera, a mother in Florida is pushing her toddler’s stroller as a car passes behind her driveway. Shots are fired.
“What the fuck are you kidding me?” she asks. Police did not say whether the mother or her child was injured.
In Peachtree City, Georgia, police released photos of a child with a bloody nose and scarring on his body after he was allegedly shot by teenagers who “modified” the beads to make them more painful.
“This child was not participating in a bike ride on the road when he was attacked by a group of teenagers who shot at him with this weapon,” police said on Facebook. “The police department will initiate criminal proceedings against all persons convicted of using these weapons in other persons in the city.”
Meanwhile, Canadian toy manufacturer Spin Master is currently selling a 2,000-bead playset called the “Orbeez Challenge”. The company does not manufacture toy weapons used by the participants of the “challenge”.
As of Sunday afternoon, videos with the #OrbeezChallenge hashtag had nearly 153 million views on TikTok.
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A mother pushes her baby’s stroller in a driveway in Volusia County, Florida. Meanwhile, a car follows them and starts shooting gel balloons as part of the Orbeez challenge.
“What the fuck are you kidding me?” the mother asks. Police did not say if there were any casualties.
The Orbeez challenge involves loading toy guns with Orbeez polymer balls, sold separately. Beads can cause injury when used as a projectile.
A child in Peachtree City, Georgia, was left with a bloody nose after he was attacked by random teenagers while riding his bike.
The child also had scars on his body. The police said they “will pursue criminal charges against all individuals found using these weapons on others within the city.”
Some of the used toy guns look very realistic, which increases the possibility that, along with the sound the beads make when fired, the challenge could be mistaken for a more dangerous attack and could result in deadly retribution.
One video on TikTok shows a young man brandishing what appears to be a toy machine filled with Orbeez beads on school grounds.
He takes it out and starts shooting at other students parked in front of the school bus. Another car drives by, the driver pulls out his loaded toy gun.
“Many jurisdictions have received reports of people being harmed by Orbeez, gel pellets fired from toy blaster guns,” the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Just be aware that these shootouts are a crime and when you are identified you could be prosecuted for taking part in the challenge.”
Volusia deputies charged three teenagers – one 18 and two 17 – with battery after they shot three people with gel balls from a van, including a man who was shot in the back while cutting trees near his home in Delton.
The 18-year-old boy was charged with two additional counts of assisting in the commission of offenses against a minor, a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to a year.
The sheriff’s office released several videos of the Orbeez shooting incidents.
One video shows the moment an Amazon driver was struck by the beads, and a third shows a car accident in which “several children shot each other with bullets.”
Volusia deputies have arrested a 19-year-old man who shot at an Amazon driver who was shot in the glasses and neck as he was completing his route.
The same shooter shot another adult and a 10-year-old child in the face and chest. He was charged with shooting at an occupied vehicle, child abuse and two counts of battery.
A video with the Orbeez contest hashtag posted on TikTok shows someone brandishing a toy gun on school grounds and shooting at students near a school bus.
Volusia County deputies released footage of an Amazon driver who was hit in the glasses and neck as he completed his route.
Deputies detained a 19-year-old man for the incident, who also hit another random adult and a 10-year-old child. He was charged with shooting at an occupied vehicle, child abuse and two counts of battery.
Orbeez beads expand when they hit the water. They are made from a super absorbent polymer which, when mixed with water, is classified as a hydrogel.
In Peachtree City, Georgia, about 31 miles southwest of Atlanta, authorities are still looking for teenagers who shot beads at a child while he was riding a bicycle.
“Now they are modifying the beads to be more painful,” the police wrote on Facebook. “As you can see from the attached photos of the incident [Monday] in the path of the cart, they can be very painful and can cause permanent injury.
The third video is to show a car accident in which “several children shoot each other with bullets.”
“In some cases, this can lead to a criminal charge and parents can also be held responsible for the actions of their children. Even just shooting them on city property (and not another person) is a violation of the city ordinance. Please take this seriously and make sure your children are not involved in this.”
The manufacturer of Spin Master claims that its products are not used properly as part of the problem.
“Children’s product safety is of paramount importance to Spin Master and we are committed to providing children and their families with the highest quality toys, games and activities. Spin Master does not manufacture or sell gel guns,” NPR said in a statement.
“Orbeez are intended for educational, imaginative and sensory play and are not intended to be used as projectiles or inserted into mechanisms.”