Using Model name from Variable

I have a variable which holds the model name like so

$fooTableName = 'foo_defs';
$fooModel = 'FooDefs';

Now I would like to insert in the DB using that model like so

$fooModel::insert([..foo..array...]);

Throws an error

"message": "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '$fooModel' (T_VARIABLE), expecting identifier (T_STRING)",

Is it possible to do something like that? or will I be forced to use

DB::table('fooTableName')->insert([...foo...array...]);

If I do it in the latter way, the timestamps in the table are wrong. The created_at column is null and the updated_at has the value

via Chebli Mohamed