Orbeez gun shooting: Kennesaw teens arrested after neighborhood attacks
Kennesaw neighborhood targeted in pellet assault
Two teenagers face aggravated assault charges after shooting multiple people with an Orbeez pellet gun from a moving vehicle, according to police.
KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw police arrested two teens who allegedly shot multiple people with an Orbeez pellet gun from a moving car in a local neighborhood.
Kennesaw police investigation
What we know:
An 11-year-old boy was walking his dog with his cousin in their Legacy Park neighborhood when a black car slowed down. A person hanging out the passenger side window opened fire, striking the child roughly 20 times with gel pellets.
The frightened children ran home immediately to alert their parents. Kennesaw police were already patrolling the neighborhood after a man out for a run reported he had been hit in a similar drive-by shooting minutes earlier.
Tracking the suspects
What they're saying:
"Our victims were able to give us a clear description of the vehicle and its passenger," Kennesaw Police Officer Amee Traore said. Police used license plate reader cameras to identify the vehicle and went to the driver's home just a couple of miles away.
While driving to the home, a cyclist flagged officers down to report that he had also been targeted. Officers arrested a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, charging both teens with aggravated assault and cruelty to children. They were taken to the Youth Detention Center.
"In the heat of the moment you're seeing something that resembles a gun that is being pointed at you and you're being struck by something that you don't know what it is at the time. That's still considered aggravated assault even if it's just a toy gun," Officer Traore said.
Unanswered case details
What we don't know:
Officials have not yet confirmed the exact motive behind the targeted neighborhood attacks.
Broader juvenile pattern
The backstory:
Records show that Acworth police also have open investigations into the two arrested teens for similar pellet gun incidents.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Kennesaw Police Officer Amee Traore, who provided details on the investigation and arrests, as well as FOX5 reporter Denise Dillon, who interviewed the victims and reviewed local police records.