THERE has been the Tide Pods challenge, the Kylie Jenner lip challenge and the cinnamon challenge. Now, it’s the Orbeez Challenge. The latest viral social media trend is gaining traction on TikTok and has police across the United States warning their communities of the potential dangers. They say people are getting hurt from the innocuous-sounding Orbeez Challenge. Police in Fernandina Beach, Florida, shared on Facebook that the new trend is influencing people to shoot the soft gel Orbeez balls at citizens with a gel-ball gun or an airsoft gun. Many TikTok posts show people playing with the small gel balls. But in other posts, people share videos of themselves shooting others with a gun filled with Orbeez balls. Spin Master, the Orbeez manufacturer, said, “Spin Master does 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.” Police in Fernandina Beach said in their post that shooting Orbeez balls “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.” Police have also warned that these incidents can bring serious criminal charges for the shooters, who may think what they’re doing is a game. Elsewhere in Florida, police shared last week that deputies arrested a 19-year-old in Deltona who shot at an Amazon delivery driver, hitting his glasses and neck — all while he was driving. Police in Deltona also reported that other teens in the city were going on an Orbeez-shooting spree that same day. According to the Volusia County sheriff, two people were hit by pellets fired from a van that took off after the shooting. This same van was involved with the shooting of a man trimming trees. The pellets broke the skin and left red welts. In a separate incident in the same city, several kids shooting the gel pellets at each other were involved in a car crash. In Peachtree City, Georgia, police said the Orbeez Challenge has already gotten out of hand in their community. Police shared on Facebook that one child riding his bike was hit and bloodied after local teens shot at him with a gel-ball gun. Peachtree City police said these teens somehow modified the gel beads to inflict even more harm. Police in Fernandina Beach said parents must be aware of the trend to potentially stop their children from hurting someone else. “We share this information so that parents can be aware of this trend and if your teen has a gel blaster gun we encourage you to discuss the potential dangers of this new trend,” they said. (SD-Agencies) | 