A Utah mother believes that a viral TikTok challenge using toy guns led her son into coming face-to-face with real guns.
The Orbeez TikTok challenge is a recent viral trend where people drive around and shoot at others with Orbeez gel beads. Melanie Pollock, a mother from Salt Lake City, explains that her son had been exposed to real weapons through the trend.
Pollock’s son was outside eating lunch with his friends at Highland High School when a car pulled up and started shooting Orbeez beads at them as part of the trend. When Pollock’s son and his friends went to confront the shooters, one of the perpetrators reportedly pulled a real gun on them and fired at them before driving off.
A statement was made by the Salt Lake City Police Department on Sunday regarding the TikTok trend, calling the challenge dangerous and a disruption to the community. The department encouraged people to avoid dangerous trends.
The Orbeez TikTok challenge has raised concerns across the state following incidents where an Ogden teen was shot in the eye and where a bicyclist had been shot at. The Syracuse bicyclist recently started a petition over the weekend in an attempt to band the challenge from the app.
