Boater arrested for firing assault weapon in ocean

Two miles off of Atlantic Beach, Nassau County Marine Bureau police officers arrested a Harbor Isle, NY man for criminal possession of a weapon on June 10 at 2:10 p.m.

Marine bureau officers and the Coast Guard responded to a 911 call that came in about a boat in distress possibly shooting off flares, police said.

Frederick Schenker, 62, was on his sailboat, and the responding officers discovered that he had fired his AR 15 rifle, which is classified as an assault weapon, in the ocean, according to police.

Schenker and his boat were escorted to the Woodmere Yacht Club in East Rockaway where he was taken into custody. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon-third degree was arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead.