Lee Zeldin 'outraged' after 2 men were shot outside his house while twin daughters, 16, were home
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: Two men were shot outside the Long Island home of GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep Lee Zeldin on Sunday, October 9. At the time of the shooting, his twin teenage daughters were at home. Zeldin, on the other hand, was not in the house. A law enforcement source said blood was seen all over the property.
"My daughters Mikayla and Arianna were doing homework on the first floor,” said Zeldin," according to New York Post. “They heard the shots. Boom! They went upstairs and locked themselves in the bathroom." He added, "They’re freaked out. One of the bullets was found 30 feet from where my daughters were doing their homework.”
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The drive-by shooting is being investigated as gang-related. Detectives are still looking for the gunman or gunmen. Zeldin has made rising crime one of his major campaign issues. At a press conference, he said he was furious about Sunday's shooting. “I’m standing in front of crime scene tape in front of my own house,” he said. “You can’t get me more outraged than I am right now.”
According to sources, the shooting took place two doors down from Zeldin’s home. A bullet reportedly even hit the congressman’s fence. However, sources said it had “nothing to do with’’ the candidate. One of the two 17-year-old victims jumped over Zeldin's fence as he tried to escape the bullets. In the process, he knocked over a 'Zeldin for Governor' sign, sources said. One of the victims was grazed on the arm by a bullet, and the other was shot in the chest. A high-ranking law enforcement source said the victims are “known to the department” and have been “involved with car thefts".
Investigators are now trying to determine whether a feud at a Suffolk County recording studio that took place a day before is connected to the shooting outside Zeldin's house. The victims, Zeldin said, were taken to Long Island Community Hospital. Zeldin said the front porch is part of the crime scene now. “The local police have cordoned off the area,” he said.
“It hits really close to home when it shows up on your front doorstep,” Zeldin said at a briefing outside his house. “Crime is out of control,” he said in a statement. “Like so many New Yorkers, crime literally made its way to our front doorstep."
“There was blood in the rock right next to the porch,” Zeldin added. “One of the shooting victims was underneath the porch. The other was underneath bushes near the porch.” He said he and his wife, Diana, had gone to attend a Columbus Day Parade in the Morris Park neighborhood in The Bronx when the incident took place. His daughter called 911 from the home around 2:20 pm to report the chaos. “My daughters are shaken but ok,” he said. “My family is grateful to all who have reached out and we will provide another update when we can.”
Zeldin said he does not know what motivated the attack. “Law enforcement is currently at our house,” he said in a statement. “My entire family is at home working with the investigators and providing the security footage from our home cameras.” He said he checked home security cameras and saw three men in the footage during the shooting.