Florida Teenagers Arrested For Firing Orbeez Gun Pellets, Allegedly Hitting Woman In Eye

Two 18-year-olds reportedly shot a woman in the eye with a gel pellet while using toy guns, copying a dangerous TikTok challenge on Monday.

According to the Clearwater police, Jamie Pessina was hit in the eye by a gel pellet shot from a BB gun around 1:30 a.m. on Monday near Clearwater Beach on Gulf View Boulevard by Salty's. She was immediately taken to the hospital.

The Florida teenagers Joashua Sanchez and Jacob Canaynay have been arrested and both and charged with aggravated battery and simple battery and booked into the Pinellas County Jail, Clearwater police confirmed. Police said the teens took turns shooting unsuspecting people on the sidewalk, claiming they were "just having fun."

Pessina said she was leaving work at Salty's when she suddenly felt nearly blinded. The victim said, "I feel like it is a rock or something it comes full blast," she then dropped to the ground.

According to Clearwater PD, this is not the first case they have seen the so-called "Orbeez Challenge" become viral on social media. Orbeez is described as "superabsorbent polymers." Once water is added to a single bead, it can grow up to 10 times its original size.

Authorities said the incident is part of the TikTok trend whereby users fire gel pellets at random people and record their reaction to upload it on the app. The famous toy became an international TikTok craze with the #OrbeezChallenge hashtag featuring people doing experiments with the colorful jellies, like filling bathtubs and even pools. However, it has been upgraded to a more critical way of playing; some people began using Orbeez for frightening reasons.

"These things are not harmless pranks," said Rob Shaw with Clearwater PD. "If they think it's a harmless prank, stay home shoot each other. Don't go driving down the street indiscriminately firing these guns."

Several law enforcement agencies have reported people shooting Orbeeze with gel blasters or similar types of guns. When water is added, the toy becomes a soft, gel-like product, but police warn they can hurt other people if fired. According to the investigators, there have been six similar incidents across Tampa Bay during the last four months.