TikTok's Orbeez challenge hurts three children in Gahanna
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Gahanna police are putting out a warning to the community after three young children were hurt in what they believe is part of a trending challenge seen on TikTok.
It's called the "Orbeez challenge" and Gahanna police say they want to put a stop to this before anyone else gets hurt.
Beyond that, anyone doing this challenge is violating city law.
Detective John Power with Gahanna Division of Police is urging people to think twice before taking part.
“Is it worth being charged with a crime? To do something like this?” asked Power.
The challenge involves taking toy guns, some which look realistic, and firing water or gel pellets at unsuspecting people while being filmed for social media.
Gahanna police are looking to identify a person who they believe did the challenge on April 7th, 2022. Police are investigating after a male teenager shot gel or water filled pellets at young children playing in the Royal Manor neighborhood this past week.
“What about somebody who is observing this on a parking lot of a grocery store and see this and thinks this is a legitimate shooting?”
The toys could easily be mistaken for a real weapon.
The pellets -- also used frozen -- could cause welts or other serious injuries.
Gahanna police says using these types of toys in the city limits in public spaces is a violation of the law.
“At the very minimum they could be charged with assault which is a misdemeanor of the first degree. There [are] other charges out there we could look at. But the main thing is -- let’s stop this before somebody really gets hurt," Power said.
Anyone who knows anything about the incident that happened in Royal Manor neighborhood is asked to call police.