Ian Patrick, FISM News
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The crime issue in New York City continues to rear its ugly head.
On Sunday, Lee Zeldin — a current New York Representative and the Republican candidate for New York governor — reported on Twitter that two individuals were shot outside of his home on Long Island.
“My 16-year-old daughters, Mikayla and Arianna, were at our house doing homework, while my wife, Diana, and I were in the car, having just departed the Bronx Columbus Day Parade in Morris Park,” Zeldin wrote.
“After my daughters heard the gunshots and the screaming, they ran upstairs, locked themselves in the bathroom, and immediately called 911,” he added.
“The two individuals who were shot were laying down under my front porch and the bushes in front of our porch. My understanding is that they have been transported to area hospitals.”
Zeldin made an appearance before reporters the night of the incident, during which he said one of the bullets from the shooting was found “30 feet” from where his daughters were sitting while doing their homework.
According to a report from the Associated Press, the Suffolk County Police Department said that “investigators have no reason to believe there is any connection between the shooting and the residence.” Police theorize the incident may have been gang-related.
The two individuals who were shot have been identified by The New York Post as Joel Murphy and Elijah Robinson, both 17-year-olds from Mastic. According to the Post, these two were “known” by the police department prior to the shootings.
Zeldin said he and his wife were proud of their kids for acting “very swiftly and smartly” and that they are collaborating with law enforcement on the matter by providing footage from their house’s security cameras.
In an interview with Fox News, Zeldin said they also discovered a third person caught on security footage moving around his yard. However, he also commented on how some media was trying to report and even twist the situation.
The night of the attack, Zeldin said that reporters were asking him to speak about it. He told Fox News that he obliged, which led to his appearance before reporters on Sunday night in front of his own house. He then said the first question from the media was “coming after” him “for standing in front of the crime scene tape speaking to” the media.
He claimed that this was an attempt to “prop up” current Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul as the midterm elections approach.
Zeldin has notably made combating crime a central point of his campaign for governor. At the end of his Twitter statement, he appealed to New Yorkers saying “Like so many … crime has literally made its way to our front door.”
Zeldin has previously made headlines in his campaign for the New York governorship in July when he was assaulted and almost stabbed during an event he held near Rochester. He even correctly predicted at the time that the attacker would be released shortly following his arrest “under NY’s laws.”