2 Teens Shot In A Drive-By Outside NY Gov Hopeful Zeldin's Home: PD

SHIRLEY, NY — A police strike force was reportedly deployed to the Long Island neighborhood of gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin where two teens were found outside bloodied from a drive-by shooting, and the audio of the barrage of gunfire was captured on surveillance footage.

Three teenagers were walking Sunday on Saint George Drive West in Shirley when a dark-colored car drove by. Someone fired multiple gunshots through the vehicle’s window around 2:19 p.m.

Two 17-year-old boys were struck by the shots. They tried to hide in the yard of a home on the street, police said, and a third teen ran.

In a statement Sunday, Zeldin said the home was his, and that his twin 16-year-old daughters, Arianna and Mikala, were inside doing homework. He and his wife, Diana, were driving home from the Bronx Columbus Day Parade in Morris Park.

His daughters heard gunshots and screams, ran upstairs, locked themselves in a bathroom, then called 911, he said.

"They acted very swiftly and smartly every step of the way and Diana and I are extremely proud of them," Zeldin said.

"My daughters are shaken, but ok," he said, later tweeting that a bullet landed 30 feet from the girls.

Security video obtained by News 12 from residents on Zeldin's block captured the sound of a barrage of gunfire on the normally quiet street.

Zeldin said the teens were found under his porch and in the bushes in front of his home, and later told the New York Post there was blood on a rock next to his porch.

He said he did not know the pair.

The two 17-year-olds, who are from Mastic and Mastic Beach, were taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Police did not identify Zeldin in a news release about the incident, but they do not believe investigators have any reason to believe the shooting is connected with Zeldin's home.

Zeldin, a Republican, is running against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul next month. He has been an outspoken critic of the state's bail reform, and has built his campaign platform around anti-crime and pro-police issues.

"Like so many New Yorkers, crime has literally made its way to our front door," Zeldin said.

He credited police for their quick response.

"They have been working hard, very diligently over the course of the last several hours," Zeldin told reporters outside his home on Sunday night, Newsday reported.

He told News 12 he was outraged by the shooting.

Zeldin was attacked in July by a man who approached him onstage at a campaign event upstate and then thrust a sharp object near his head and neck. Zeldin was unharmed in the attack, and the man was arrested.

Zeldin, 46, represented the 1st Congressional District for seven years, and before that was a state senator. He is a lifelong resident of the tri-hamlet area, with many supporters displaying his campaign signs on their lawns.

On Monday afternoon, a single police cruiser was stationed outside his home, which is a standard procedure following violent incidents. Police said that there was a patrol presence outside the home overnight, but could not say how long it would be there.

Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told Newsday that a strike force had been deployed to the neighborhood.

"I’m always concerned about retaliation, so putting this strike force together and grabbing officers throughout the county and kind of flooding them in a certain community is our M.O.," Harrison said. "We always do that type of police work. We’re in the business of protecting the residents of Suffolk County."

Investigators are examining whether the shooting is gang-related, he said.

"It’s still preliminary," said Harrison. "Have we seen some gang concerns out here in Shirley? Yes, we have. I can’t sit here and say that this is the motive for this shooting incident. But we’ll take a look at it.”

A police spokesperson told Patch that the department has enhanced patrols in the area using officers from various commands, as is routine following shooting incidents.

No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting outside of Zeldin's home.

Officials told News 12 that investigators believe the shooting was targeted.

In a similar incident in August, four teens were charged with weapon possession after a drive-by in Mastic Beach. No one was injured in the shooting.

Zeldin told News 12 that the incident was part of a crime spike statewide.

“If you were going to try and recap the high-profile crime that happened in the last week or two, you'd think it was a year or two,” he added.

Neighbor Sean Penn expressed concern over the incident, according to the outlet.

“There's been a lot of crime going on, shootings going on everywhere around the last couple months," he said.

Harrison called the incident “frightening,” News 12 reported.

"I'm going to be honest with you, I see too many guns on the street," he said. That's something as a police department, we got to do better. We got to make sure we are getting guns out of these people’s hands and holding people accountable. We have a lot to do to get ahead of this."

Police are asking anyone with information to contact 7th Squad Detectives at 631-852-8752 or Crime Stoppers, a confidential police hotline, at 1-800-220-TIPS.

Dan Hampton and The Associated Press contributed additional reporting to this story.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.