The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office warned on Tuesday about a “dangerous” social media trend that is taking hold, particularly in the Falcon area.

In a news release, the Sheriff’s Office alerted the community about the Orbeez Challenge, which is encouraging participants, particularly teenagers, to take videos of themselves shooting the soft gel Orbeez balls at citizens from high-powered water bead guns. It is the latest viral social media trend to gain traction on TikTok.

The Sheriff’s Office, saying the trend could result in serious injuries and lead to felony-level offenses, included additional details about the challenge:

• Water bead guns are toy guns that shoot water-filled beads in semi-auto or full-auto modes.
• The beads are sometimes frozen before they’re used, making them more destructive.
• Velocity settings on some water bead guns can be adjusted to as high as 250 feet per second (similar to a BB gun designed to shoot steel BB rounds).
• Many of these water bead guns match the appearance of actual firearms; it’s impossible at a quick glance to tell the difference.
• There have been numerous instances reported nationally of law enforcement officers who have been fired upon and struck by water beads after being confronted by teenagers brandishing these water bead guns.

“As you can imagine,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, “this social media challenge has the potential for unnecessary, serious injury to victims as well as avoidable catastrophe. Worst case, the very realistic appearance of many of these guns creates a dynamic in which it could be only a matter of time until an armed citizen or law enforcement officer uses potentially justified deadly force against a prankster engaged in this Orbeez challenge who has what appears to be a legitimate firearm.”

The Sheriff’s Office noted an increase in reports of people being shot by the water guns, particularly in the unincorporated Falcon area northeast of Colorado Springs.