What you should know
- An 18-year-old in the Bronx was shot in the face and killed, police said, in what may have been the result of a deadly TikTok challenge, authorities and law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the case say. .
- Raymond Chaluisant, 18, was found unconscious with a gunshot wound to the face.
- Police later said the person who allegedly shot the teen was an off-duty corrections officer, 45-year-old Dion Middleton. Law enforcement sources said one angle in his investigation is the Orbeez weapon, a toy pistol, that Chaluisant had in his car.
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NEW YORK — An 18-year-old in the Bronx was shot in the face and killed, police said, in what may have been the result of a deadly TikTok challenge, authorities and law enforcement sources say. direct knowledge of the case.
Officers responded to a call about a man who was shot in the face at the corner of Grand Concourse and East Tremont in Morris Heights shortly after 1:30 a.m. Thursday, according to police. Raymond Chaluisant, 18, was found unconscious with a gunshot wound to the face.
Chaluisant was found about a half-mile from where police believe he was shot, at the corner of Cross Bronx Expressway and Morris Avenue. He was taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police later said the person who allegedly shot the teen was an off-duty corrections officer, 45-year-old Dion Middleton. Law enforcement sources said one angle in his investigation is the Orbeez gun Chaluisant had in his car.
Orbeez guns are essentially amplified water guns, which can fire water-filled pellets at their opponent. Fake guns are kids’ toys, but thanks to TikTok they’ve been swept up in a viral challenge to shoot people.
The so-called Orbeez challenge encourages children to shoot. Many videos show teenagers shooting these water balls from a moving car.
At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence Chaluisant fired the gun at the corrections officer, but police said Middleton pulled out a real gun and shot the youth.
Middleton was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
The night after the deadly shooting, the New York City Police tweeted a warning about Orbeez blasters, explaining that they are actually air rifles, making them illegal.
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