Police in Florida and Georgia are seeing incidents pop up in relation to a new social media stunt, the “Orbeez challenge,” and are advising residents to be wary of the trend, which “could cause injury.”
While the challenge features TikTokers playing with the small gel balls known as Orbeez, other clips show users shooting the balls at friends—and strangers—with fake guns. Police in Fernandina Beach said, per NPR, that the toy “could cause injury if striking a person at a high speed or in a sensitive area such as the eyes. This ‘trend’ also has the potential to cause fear or panic in that some of these gel blaster guns could be mistaken for an actual firearm.”
“Children’s product safety is paramount at Spin Master, and we are committed to providing children and their families with the highest quality toys, games and activities,” manufacturer Spin Master shared in a statement. “[We do] not manufacture or sell gel guns. Orbeez are designed for educational, creative, and sensory play and are not intended to be used as projectiles or inserted in mechanisms.”
A few legal issues have erupted in response to the viral trend, including in Deltona, Florida, where a 19-year-old was arrested for shooting an Amazon delivery driver with the balls as he was driving, as well as another adult and a 10-year-old. The teen was charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle, child abuse, and two counts of battery, per the Volusia County sheriff.
Two other people on that same day were hit by balls fired from a van; one was a man trimming trees who wound up with red welts. An 18-year-old and two 17-year-olds were charged with battery.
Over in Peachtree City, Georgia, a child on a bike was shot by balls and left with a bloody face after teens modified the balls to be more dangerous, per authorities. The Peachtree City Police Department says it is pressing charges against people firing at others, and that these actions “could result in felony charges and parents could also be liable for the actions of their kids.”
