Police warn parents to keep Gelsoft guns at home

By Allison Marlow
Posted 2/11/22

She heard him yell, almost scream.

“I was shot.”

The Fairhope couple were downtown parked near the Fairhope Single Tax office when he said he was hit with what he believed was a …

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Police warn parents to keep Gelsoft guns at home

Posted

She heard him yell, almost scream.

“I was shot.”

The Fairhope couple were downtown parked near the Fairhope Single Tax office when he said he was hit with what he believed was a BB.

The couple, who agreed to tell their story anonymously, were shopping downtown on a busy Sunday morning when the shots were fired. Because they didn’t know where the shots came from, they didn’t call the police.

It took more than three days for the large, red welt in the center of the victim’s back to heal. It took much longer for the deep, dark-colored bruises to fade.

Police up and down the Eastern Shore are reporting that teens are shooting Gelsoft or Airsoft guns in public places, firing at unsuspecting bystanders.

While some victims have contacted authorities, others have taken to Facebook to beg parents to control the teens.

Now, police say if parents won’t control their teens, they will.

“They drive by people standing on the street, the fire at drive-through restaurants. They are all over,” said Lt. Shane Nolte, of the Fairhope Police Department.

“It’s continuing to be a problem. If you are shot in the face or hit close enough they can really hurt. It is something that can cause an injury.”

Nolte said the guns are hard plastic bb guns while others are known as Orbi guns or splatter ball. The battery powered guns fire small beads soaked in water that swell.

Last week, Fairhope High School Principal Jon Cardwell sent an email to parents with a warning: students found toting the guns on campus will result in suspension and/or expulsion.

Nolte said students were shooting at each other after a basketball game at the school.

“Kids all over the county are doing it. We know they are just playing and having fun, but you just can’t do that.

“Eventually it is going to cause a problem and somebody is going to hurt or arrested while they are out playing,” Nolte said.

Two teens were arrested in 2021 after shooting into vehicles with BB guns. Both were charged with felonies and police identified 16 victims.

Police in several Eastern Shore cities have asked parents to monitor their teens’ uses of the guns and warned that teens who continue the foul play could be charged criminally.

“We’re asking parents to keep them at home,” Nolte said. “They can play but it needs to be in a controlled environment – not in the street, not at a public place but at their own home.”

Nolte said he told his own teen ‘no’ this year when he asked to buy one of the guns.

For the couple who were hit in the crossfire of the teens earlier this month, they are thankful their toddler was with a family member and not with them.

“I cannot even imagine if this would have hit him,” she said. “It just makes my stomach turn thinking about that, or this happening to any child. It could have easily taken an eye out or caused some kind of damage that would have changed a person’s life forever.”