On May 14, Salem residents Hayly and Nathan Behnke were in Seaside with their son to celebrate his 11th birthday. They played arcade games, ate at local restaurants and rented a bicycle. The day ended being struck by projectiles fired from a passing vehicle.

“We were walking together as a family down Broadway around 9:30 p.m. to check out areas of town we had not been to earlier,” Hayly Behnke wrote in an email to Seaside police and officials. “We were admiring the shopfront of a bookstore we decided we would need to visit on our way out of town the following day when a truck drove up and the passenger shot at us with an airsoft BB-style gun.

“My husband was shot multiple times in the back, and I was shot in the back of the head; luckily, my son was physically unharmed. This was an absolutely terrifying situation for our family.”

The ammunition was hard enough to cause severe injury if it came in contact with bare skin, eyes, or other vulnerable areas on the body, she said. The male passenger appeared to be late teens or possibly early 20s, she said.

Hayly Behnke was protected from injury by her thick hair and Nathan Behnke by his coat, she said. “We believe it was a hard plastic-type pellet, not metal,” she said last week . “My husband found a remnant on the back of his shirt and it was a blue plastic material.”

They believe that it was a random act, as neither of them recognized the vehicle or any of the people they could see inside. “My theory is that because we were a small group alone on the street corner away from the crowds closer to downtown we were an easy target with no other witnesses around the immediate vicinity,” Hayly Behnke said.

Once it was discovered they were uninjured, they immediately contacted 911 to report the incident.

They met with Seaside police the next day, she said.

Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham said over the past weeks he had been briefed on several reports of vehicles driving by and shooting BB-style projectiles toward cars or people.

He said there have been “four or five similar incidents,” including the Behnkes.

“This is obviously a safety concern for those being in the area where the projectiles are being shot,” Ham said.

On April 3, police received a report of three youths shooting toy guns as they drove by, Ham said. Officers located the suspect vehicle and found the youths in possession of SplatRBall toy guns. The mother of one of the youths was contacted and advised of the activity and the other youths warned for disorderly conduct.

On April 13, a person reported being struck by a projectile from a vehicle driving by. Police later contacted a man and a youth in possession of a SplatRBall toy gun. The adult was cited for disorderly conduct and the youth is being referred to the juvenile department for disorderly conduct charges, Ham said.

The toy gun use is referred to as playing “SplatRball” or splatter ball.

SplatRball is a toy airsoft type of BB gun, sometimes called a “gel blaster,” that shoots gel bead projectiles in a short time. “The BB’s are small, but soaked in water they increase in size,” Ham said. “My understanding is that the projectiles are nontoxic and do not leave residue marks and dissolve in a short time, compared to using plastic BB’s that don’t dissolve.”

Although some slight pain can result from being shot somewhere on the body, it could result in a more serious injury if someone was to be hit in the eye, he added.

“Those who participate in shooting these types of projectiles can face criminal charges for disorderly conduct and harassment, possibly assault if an injury is sustained.”