SHIRLEY, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — Two teens were injured in a drive-by shooting outside the Long Island home of gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin, who said his twin daughters, who were home at the time, called police.
"The two individuals who were shot were laying down under my front porch and the bushes in front of our porch," Zeldin said in a statement.
Zeldin said his 16-year-old daughters, Mikayla and Arianna, ran upstairs, locked themselves in the bathroom and called 911. He said they were “shaken” but uninjured.
“It was a pretty traumatizing experience for them, they were just sitting at a kitchen table,” the congressman told 1010 WINS on Monday.
“What especially was traumatizing to the girls was that they feared that these people were trying to get into the house, targeting them,” Zeldin said. “So not having all the facts, not knowing exactly what was going on.”
Zeldin said a bullet was found about 30 feet from where his daughters were sitting, while the two victims were found about 10 feet away under the porch and a bush.
Zeldin and his wife were campaigning in the Bronx at the time of the shooting and rushed home.
"Like so many New Yorkers, crime has literally made its way to our front door," the Republican congressman said in his statement.
Suffolk County police confirmed that two 17-year-old boys were shot and injured outside a home on Saint George Drive West in Shirley at 2:20 p.m. They said the two victims "attempted to hide in the yard of a residence" after being shot by someone firing from a dark-colored vehicle.
The victims were taken to an area hospital and are expected to recover. A third teen fled the scene, police said.
Police don't believe there's any connection between the shooting and Zeldin's campaign for governor.
The GOP candidate’s Suffolk County home was cordoned off and part of the crime scene Sunday. No arrests have been reported.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who will face Zeldin in next month's election, said she was briefed on the shooting. "I’m relieved to hear the Zeldin family is safe and grateful for law enforcement's quick response," she tweeted.
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