A Florida man pulled a loaded 9mm handgun on three teenagers after they fired a colorful toy water gun at his car, and now both he and one of the teens are facing criminal charges.

Story Snapshot

• Gregory Allen Davis, 49, chased down three teens and held them at gunpoint after a 15-year-old fired an Orbeez toy gun at his vehicle in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
• The teen admitted he fired the toy gun by mistake, thinking Davis’s car belonged to a friend during a social media prank game.
• Davis called 911 and stayed on the line during the chase, but police say he had multiple chances to back off before pulling his weapon.
• Both Davis and the 15-year-old were arrested and charged. Davis faces aggravated assault and false imprisonment of a child charges.

How a Water Bead Toy Triggered a Felony Arrest

It was just after 8:50 p.m. on June 24 near Southwest Morelia Lane in Port St. Lucie when something small and wet hit a moving car. Gregory Allen Davis was riding in that car with his fiancée when it happened. He had no idea it was a toy. He believed someone was shooting at them with a BB or pellet gun, so he called 911 and told his fiancée to follow the teens’ vehicle. That decision set off a chain of events that ended with three kids face-down on the ground at gunpoint.

The weapon that started it all was a blue, white, and yellow Piranha Orbeez toy gun. It fires tiny water-filled gel beads that burst on impact. A 15-year-old named Jordan Gomez fired it from a moving vehicle at what he thought was a friend’s car. He got the wrong one. No one was hurt. The beads left no damage. But in the dark, from a moving car, the situation felt very different to Davis.

Davis Stayed on 911 — Then Got Out With a Loaded Gun

Davis kept Port St. Lucie police on the phone the whole time he followed the teens. That part shows he wanted officers involved. But police say he did not wait for them to handle it. When the teens’ car stopped, Davis got out with his Taurus PT111 G2 9mm handgun. He ordered all three teens out of the vehicle and onto the ground. Witnesses said he shouted vulgar commands and announced he had a “nine-millimeter.” The teens stayed on the ground until officers arrived.

Cell phone video captured the confrontation. Police reviewed it and said it matched what witnesses described. Davis was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and false imprisonment of a child to commit aggravated abuse. His bond was set at $30,000. Gomez, the 15-year-old, was charged with shooting or throwing a missile at or into an occupied vehicle.

This Was Not the First Orbeez Incident in Port St. Lucie

This case did not happen in a vacuum. Port St. Lucie police had already investigated 38 separate Orbeez gun incidents in 2026 alone before this one. That number matters. It shows that confusion between toy guns and real firearms is a real and growing problem in this community. These toys are motorized, realistic-looking, and popular on social media. When fired from a moving car at night, the victim has almost no way to know it is not a real weapon.

The broader trend is just as troubling. Orbeez gun pranks have surged nationwide alongside their rise on social media platforms. Law enforcement agencies from Florida to Connecticut have issued public warnings about them. A neighbor who watched Davis hold the teens at gunpoint put it plainly, saying children “are going to get killed for actions that they do now.” That is not an overreaction. It is a clear-eyed read of where this is heading.

Two People Made Bad Choices, and Both Are Paying for It

The facts here do not fully excuse either side. Gomez fired a toy gun at a stranger’s car in the dark. That was reckless, regardless of intent, and the law treated it that way. But Davis had a loaded firearm, police were actively responding, and he chose to escalate instead of wait. Police said directly that he had multiple chances to disengage. He did not take them. Common sense and the law both draw a line between defending yourself and hunting down teenagers over a water bead.

The scanner page Davis founded, called “Greg Saint Lucie County Scanner,” publicly removed his name after his arrest and stated he was no longer involved. That says something. The community he served did not see his actions as justified self-defense. They saw it as a man who crossed a line. Both arrests in this case are defensible. So is the warning police issued afterward: call 911, stay in your car, and let officers do their job.

Sources:

nypost.com, facebook.com, cbsnews.com, wptv.com