Two teens arrested in gel bead shooting, Nassau cops say

Two male teenagers were arrested Sunday after, Nassau police said, they used a toy gun to shoot gel water beads out of a moving car at a man walking in East Rockaway.

The incident is similar to a recent rash of pellet gun shootings on Long Island.

The unidentified 33-year-old male victim was walking near the intersection of Althouse Avenue and Front Street on Sunday, shortly before 10 p.m., when a juvenile in the front passenger seat of a 2014 Honda Accord yelled out the window and pointed a soft water bead blaster gun at him, "putting him in fear for his life," police said in a statement.

One of the suspects began to fire at the victim, striking him multiple times with the gel beads, which are not intended to cause injury.

Detectives from the Fourth Squad responded to the scene and a short time later, a 16-year-old and 17-year-old were located and arrested, police said.

The teens, who were not identified because of their ages, were charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree menacing and issued Family Court appearance tickets.

The victim was not injured.

Police said it's unclear if the incident is connected to a TikTok trend, which involves people using air rifles or gel guns to shoot people with BB-sized pellets of water.

Nassau County police are probing at least four similar shootings, including one each in Wantagh and Levittown and two in Massapequa.

Suffolk County police are investigating at least two recent pellet gun shootings, including one in which a 12-year-old girl was shot in the eye at the Tanger Outlets mall in Deer Park.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.