Two teenagers in the Atlanta area are facing serious charges after police said they shot multiple people with an Orbeez pellet gun from a moving car, including two young boys who were walking through their own neighborhood.
FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Denise Dillon covered the case from Kennesaw, where an 11-year-old boy described being hit roughly 20 times by small gel pellets while walking his dog with his younger cousin in the Legacy Park neighborhood.
Dillon reported that the children were on the sidewalk when a black car came down the street, slowed near them, and someone inside began shooting from the passenger side of the vehicle.
“Out of nowhere, a black car came rolling down from this direction, and they kind of slowed down, and then they just started shooting at us,” 11-year-old Jason Spencer told FOX 5.
A Walk Through The Neighborhood Turned Scary
Jason told Dillon he was walking his dog, Louie, with his younger cousin when the black car approached and the shooting started.
The pellets came from an Orbeez-style gun, which fires small gel beads that can sting on impact. Jason said the pellets did not leave serious injuries, but the attack was frightening and painful.
“I got hit around maybe 20-something times,” Jason said.
After the shooting, the boys ran home as quickly as they could to tell their parents what had happened.
Jason’s parent said the story was hard to believe at first because the attack happened in a place where the family did not expect that kind of behavior. But once the boys explained that someone had been hanging out of a passenger-side window and appeared to lure them in before shooting, the family took the report seriously.
“Initially, I thought they were playing because, you know, you don’t expect something like that to happen here,” the parent told Dillon. “But when they told me that it was somebody hanging out of a passenger side window and that kind of lured them in to get shot, that’s when I took it more serious.”
That detail is what makes the case more disturbing than a careless prank. The boys were not playing with the teens, and they did not appear to know the people in the car. Police described multiple people being targeted in the area, making the incident part of a broader pattern rather than a single bad decision.
Police Were Already In The Area
Dillon reported that Kennesaw police were already in the Legacy Park neighborhood when the boys were shot.
Minutes earlier, officers had received a call from a man who said he had been running when someone shot at him with a similar pellet gun from a vehicle. That report brought officers into the neighborhood before Jason and his cousin came forward.
Kennesaw Police Officer Amee Traore told FOX 5 that victims gave investigators a clear description of the vehicle and the passenger.
“Our victims were able to give us a clear description of the vehicle and its passenger,” Traore said.
Police then used license plate reader cameras to identify and track down the vehicle. According to Dillon’s report, officers were heading toward the driver’s home, just a few miles away, when another person flagged them down.
This time, it was a cyclist who said he had also been shot at.
That sequence helped police connect the cases quickly. A runner, two boys, and then a cyclist all reported similar attacks, giving officers a stronger basis to treat the situation as a spree of drive-by pellet shootings rather than isolated neighborhood mischief.
Two Teens Were Arrested
Police arrested a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old in connection with the pellet gun attacks, Dillon reported.
Both teens were charged with aggravated assault and cruelty to children. They were taken to a youth detention center.
The charges may surprise people who think of Orbeez guns as toys, but Traore said the law looks at the fear and threat created in the moment, not only the final injury.
“In the heat of the moment, you’re seeing something that resembles a gun being pointed at you, and you’re getting struck with something that you don’t know what it is at the time,” Traore said. “That’s still considered aggravated assault even if it’s just a toy gun.”
That explanation is important because these incidents are often treated casually online. Videos of gel-pellet shootings may be presented as pranks, but the person being hit does not know what is coming at them, whether the weapon is real, or whether the next shot could cause serious injury.
For a child, that fear can be even worse. An 11-year-old walking a dog should not have to decide in a split second whether someone pointing something from a moving car is using a toy or a firearm.
The “Toy Gun” Defense Has Limits
The case highlights a growing problem with realistic-looking toy guns, pellet guns, and gel blasters being used in public places.
An Orbeez gun may not be designed to kill, but pointing one at strangers from a moving car can create panic, injuries, and a police response that quickly becomes serious. If officers or victims believe a real firearm may be involved, the situation can also become dangerous for the teens holding the device.
This is where the “it was just a toy” excuse falls apart. A toy used to scare, target, or injure strangers is no longer functioning as a toy in any meaningful sense.
The legal system often considers how a reasonable person would experience the act. If someone is walking, running, or riding a bike and a car slows down while a person leans out and fires something that looks like a gun, it is understandable that the victim would believe they were under attack.
Jason’s case also shows that even when the pellets leave only small marks, the emotional impact can still be real. Being ambushed in a neighborhood by people in a car can make a child feel unsafe in a place that should feel familiar and protected.
Similar Incidents Are Under Investigation
Dillon reported that Acworth police also have an investigation involving the same two juveniles for similar incidents.
That detail suggests investigators are looking beyond the Kennesaw attacks and trying to determine whether the teens may be connected to a wider pattern of pellet gun shootings in nearby communities.
Police have not publicly confirmed a motive in Dillon’s report, and there was no indication that the victims knew the teens. The attacks appear to have been random or opportunistic, with people on foot or on bikes becoming targets as the vehicle moved through the area.
The randomness is part of what makes the case concerning. Victims were going about ordinary activities: walking a dog, running, or cycling. None of those situations should make someone a target for a drive-by attack, even with a gel pellet gun.
For neighborhoods, incidents like this can create a sense of unease because the victims were not doing anything risky. They were simply outside.
A Parent Says Arrests Were Needed
Jason’s parent told FOX 5 that the arrests were necessary and said the teens should learn from what happened.
“They definitely needed to be arrested, and so I’m glad and I hope that they learn something,” the parent said.
That reaction is understandable. Parents may recognize that teenagers make poor decisions, but when those decisions involve targeting children from a moving car, the response cannot be limited to a warning.
There is also a public safety message here for families. Many children and teens may see gel blasters as harmless because they are sold as recreational toys, but using them against strangers can lead to felony charges.
The difference between playing with friends in a safe, agreed-upon setting and shooting unsuspecting people in a neighborhood is not small. It is the difference between a game and an assault investigation.
A Serious Lesson From A Small Pellet
Dillon’s report shows how quickly a small gel pellet can become a major police case when it is fired at strangers from a moving vehicle.
The injuries described in the Kennesaw case may have been minor, but the behavior was not. Police said young boys, a runner, and a cyclist were all targeted, and the teens now face aggravated assault and cruelty to children charges.
The case also shows how modern tools such as license plate readers can help officers move quickly when victims provide a clear vehicle description. In this instance, those cameras helped police identify the vehicle and track it to a nearby home.
Still, the bigger issue is not the technology used to catch the suspects. It is the decision to turn a toy-style pellet gun into a weapon for frightening and hurting people who had no warning.
Jason and his cousin were simply walking a dog in their neighborhood. By the end of that walk, they were running home after being shot with pellets from a passing car.
For the teens accused in the case, what may have seemed like a prank now carries serious legal consequences. For the families in Legacy Park, it is a reminder that even “toy” weapons can cause real fear when they are used the wrong way.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
