Westport police have arrested three teens who are accused of shooting toy airsoft guns at people passing by during a social media challenge and hitting another child in the eye with what they said was a gel-like projectile.
Police said they started receiving several emergency calls from several locations in town on Saturday night from people reporting that kids in a vehicle were shooting projectiles at pedestrians.
Based on the description from callers, police found a vehicle in the area of Greens Farms Road and Compo Road South, stopped it and found toy airsoft guns capable of firing gel-like projectiles at a high velocity.
“It was apparent that these youths were participating in a viral TikTok challenge known as the “Orbeez Challenge,”’ a news release from Westport police said.
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All three male suspects were taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of assault in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree and breach of peace in the second degree and they were released to their parents.
Police are asking any other victims from that evening to report these incidents to the Westport Police Department.
“Please let this arrest serve as a reminder that following social media trends can be extremely dangerous and have consequences,” Westport police said in a news release.
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