DEARBORN (WWJ) -- There is a new trend on social media that landed a Dearborn teen in handcuffs.
The "Orbeez Challenge" is proving to be very dangerous -- so much so that the Dearborn Police Department is warning against it.
The trend calls for young users on "TikTok" to record themselves loading Orbeez balls -- which are water-absorbent polymer beads -- into gel blaster guns, and shooting bystanders at random
It's gotten to a point where the Dearborn police have arrested a teenager for it -- and now they're facing assault charges. Over the last several weeks they've responded to numerous incidents of people being shot at random, and some getting injured because of it.
According to officials, the projectile beads are capable of causing injuries, which could be potentially severe in sensitive areas of the body.
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“Once again we find ourselves dealing with a dangerous trend on social media that has influenced our young people to make dangerous choices that can have lifetime consequences," said Dearborn's Police Chief Issa Shahin. "The Dearborn Police Department will have a zero-tolerance approach to activities such as this that pose danger to the public.”
Shahin is encouraging parents to talk to their kids about what they see on social media and to pay attention to dangerous trends that arise.
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