Teens cited in Orbeez gunbattle

Three more teens received citations for disorderly conduct for participating in a fake gunbattle with toy gel-ball guns that frightened patrons and staff at Stewart’s Food Store May 28, just days after a mass school shooting in Uvalde, Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck said.

A 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds in a white truck drove into Stewart’s parking lot at about 4 p.m. chasing another vehicle. Two of the teens jumped out of the truck carrying toy guns painted in camouflage colors and resembling “real AR-15 short-barrel rifles,” the chief said.

“They targeted another vehicle in the parking lot with other juveniles in it. Another juvenile pulls up, and the driver of the truck shot the female that got out of that truck as she was walking up to the store,” Birbeck said. “They eventually got back in their car and left the scene.”

Police obtained video of the incident and tracked down the teens. The disorderly conduct citations carry fines of up to $500.

The “Orbeez Challenge,” a viral phenomenon on social media site TikTok, has created headaches for police departments across the country, as well as scores of arrests. The social media challenge entails filming drive-by “shootings” of unsuspecting members of the public with airsoft guns filled with Orbeez gel pellets.

Police have warned that the behavior could have fatal consequences if an armed civilian believes an attack is underway. The incident at Stewart’s is one such incident that could have turned deadly in light of the recent mass shootings, Chief Birbeck said.

The incident panicked a patron in Stewart’s parking lot, who called the police, and Stewart’s staff, who locked the doors when they saw what they believed were real weapons.

“With recent events that have gone on including the grocery store shooting (in Buffalo, New York) and Uvalde, people are sensitive,” he said. “When people bail out of cars or shoot from cars with Orbeez guns that look like short barrel rifles … it frightens people. The witness felt like he was fixing to watch a shooting at Stewart’s. At some point an armed citizen or armed police officer is going to engage these people and it’s going to be a bad outcome. We understand kids want to have fun but there is an appropriate place and time for those toys to be used. Stewart’s is not that place.”

Birbeck again urged people to use the Orbeez guns on private property with consenting individuals. “If they want to have an organized game, that’s fine. But at the same time, they’ve got to be responsible or somebody is going to get hurt,” he said.

In a previous incident, Olney police charged a teen with assault for shooting at two children sitting on a curb. The teens in the most recent incident were cited for disorderly conduct for disturbing the peace because the “game” in Stewart’s parking lot was consensual, he said.