HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—The Huntington Beach Police Department is warning against participating in a viral national challenge where juveniles are shooting others with water pellets, leading to injuries.
Called the “Orbeez Challenge” and now sweeping across the country, the trend started on social media platform TikTok, where kids and young adults are doing drive-by-style shootings using projectile shooters, sometimes known as gel blasters, which are loaded with water beads called Orbeez.
While the trend began as a prank, some have gotten hurt after getting shot with the pellets, leading to welts on their body.
In Huntington Beach, a juvenile was issued a criminal citation in April for battery, a misdemeanor, after they shot someone in the face and body with a launcher gun.
While the gel beads are made out of primarily water, some have been freezing the beads as a way to “intensify their effects.”
Overall, the department has responded to 56 calls about the challenge. So far, four juveniles have been given citations, according to KTLA.
“The Huntington Beach Police Department is making a concerted effort to crack down on these types of incidents,” the department said in a statement. “This activity could result in misdemeanor, and possibly felony criminal charges, depending on the level of injury sustained by the victim. It could also lead to civil litigation for injury to person(s) and/or damage to private property.”
Authorities are encouraging parents to discuss the matter with their children to avoid future incidents.
Those brandishing the weapons also have the potential to cause fear or panic, the department said, since the guns can be mistaken for legitimate firearms from a distance. Some have also painted their launchers black in order to make them appear to be real weapons, authorities said.
