MONSEY (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – Just one day after Monsey was rocked by its fourth late night projectile attack on pedestrians in two weeks, Chaverim of Rockland is being credited for its role in apprehending the perpetrator in an incident which may be connected to a Tik Tok challenge that has been sweeping the nation.
The Ramapo Police Department arrested a 16 year old Spring Valley teen on Monday for shooting at a pair of Chasidic individuals as they walked down a Monsey street at 2:20 AM on July 31st, hitting one in the face. Police said that leads were developed in the drive-by shooting, including information provided to them by a Chaverim of Rockland member at the scene of the incident, leading to arrest of the teen who had been shooting at garbage cans with a gel gun, in addition to shooting at the two pedestrians.
Chaverim coordinator Yossi Margaretten told VIN News that one of his members was able to supply police with the license plate number of the Toyota Corolla hatchback involved in the incident.
Sunday morning a person on Decatur Ave was shot in the face with a gel gun. With some info provided by @ChaverimRocklnd, we developed leads resulting in the arrest of a juvenile for Felony Att. Assault, Reckless Endangerment & Weapon Possession all returnable to Family Court. pic.twitter.com/gninMerfhw
— Ramapo Police Dept. (@Ramapo_PD) August 1, 2022
The unnamed suspect was charged with attempted assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and will be appearing before a judge in family court because of his age.
Ramapo police posted a picture of the gun used in the incident, a SplatRBall Mini 375, a fully automatic blaster that shoots 7.5 millimeter water beads at a velocity up to 135 feet per second, with a firing rate of up to seven rounds per second.
Gel guns have been making headlines for the past few months with a viral TikTok challenge prompting people to shoot random victims with the gel pellets, reported CBS News (cbsn.ws/3ORHI0f). The phenomenon was dubbed the #orbeezchallenge, but a search for the hashtag on TikTok currently yields no hits, only a message from the platform saying “this phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines.”
The NYPD issued warnings on social media on July 21st about the guns, noting that they are illegal to possess in New York City because they are classified as air rifles.
Police warned that anyone found carrying a gel gun, also known as a bead blaster, will be issued a criminal summons in addition to having their weapon confiscated. That warning came after an off-duty corrections officer who said he feared for his life after being hit in the back by an unknown projectile fatally shot an 18 year old man, with a gel gun later recovered at the scene, reported The New York Times (nyti.ms/3vxctAM).
Deltona, Florida was the site of multiple gel gun arrests dating back as far as March, according to NPR (n.pr/3vUY9CD). In one incident a 19 year old in was responsible for shooting several victims, including a 10 year old child in the face and neck and an Amazon driver who was hit in the glasses and neck as he was driving. Deltona police also arrested an 18 year old and a pair of 17 year olds for shooting three people with gel guns, while several children shooting each other with gel-beads were involved in a car crash.
Detectives at the Ramapo Police Department were not available to discuss the incident with VIN News at press time.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias