Five youths nabbed after shooting gel guns at church-goers in St. Dom’s parking lot, police say
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YOUNGSTOWN -- One juvenile was charged with misdemeanor assault and four others were charged with misdemeanor menacing after a July 11 incident in a parking lot at St. Dominic Church on Southern Boulevard. There the juveniles allegedly shot Orbeez gel guns at people walking to their cars after Mass.
One of the victims was struck multiple times at close range and sustained significant bruising to his face, according to a Youngstown Police Department news release. The victim is an older man, according to police.
The incident began with five masked juveniles carrying gel guns walking into the church parking lot and asking people for money as they walked to their cars, the release states.
"When requests were ignored, one of the juveniles (age 13 from East Lucius Avenue) started to shoot his Orbeez gun at multiple people," the release states. "One person was struck as he drove his vehicle out of the parking lot, and another person was struck multiple times from close range."
"The other juveniles pointed their guns and shot at cars as they drove on East Auburndale," it added.
Youngstown Police Detective Sgt. Michael Cox investigated. And with the help of the church security video system, he identified all five juveniles, the release states.
Charges were filed earlier this week at Mahoning County Juvenile Court. In addition to the boy charged with assault, the four charged with menacing were a boy 14 from East Lucius Avenue, a boy 14 from East Ravenwood Avenue, a boy 13 from East Ravenwood Avenue and a boy 17 from Warren, the release states.
A Youngstown police report stated that a deputy working security at the church alerted Youngstown police to the 6:14 p.m. shootings.
The deputy said he walked over to the boys and said, "'Hey, come here.'" But once they saw him, they fled on foot across Southern Boulevard toward East Ravenwood Avenue.
The deputy notified his department's dispatchers, and they notified Youngstown police officers, the report states.
A June 2024 post on the Facebook page of the Henry County Sheriff's Office in Virginia warned the public of a social media trend called the "Orbeez Challenge" after the sheriff's office received several complaints about misuse of the gel blasters.
The blasters are designed to fire gel projectiles or small, water-absorbing beads, according to the post.
The "Orbeez Challenge" encouraged shooting strangers with Orbeez gel blasters. The beads from the gel blasters sting and can cause serious injury when fired from air-powered blasters, according to the post.
Deputies encouraged parents to discuss the dangers of the "Orbeez Challenge" with children.