New York police reportedly launched a strike force after the shooting outside of Rep. Lee Zeldin’s home.
Speaking to reporters near the home of the Republican candidate for governor, Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said he is putting the strike force together for the Shirley area.
“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 on Monday, according to Newsday. “We always do that type of police work. We’re in the business of protecting the residents of Suffolk County.”
“It’s still preliminary,” Harrison said. “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.”
NEW YORK TEENS SHOT OUTSIDE GOP CANDIDATE LEE ZELDIN’S HOME IDENTIFIED, NO ARRESTS MADE: REPORT
Fox News Digital reached out to Suffolk County police on Tuesday seeking more information.
New York GOP candidate for governor Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. said that the crime crisis in New York is hitting “close to home” after two people were shot just outside his house on Sunday afternoon.
(Fox News)
No arrests have been made in connection to the drive-by shooting that happened while Zeldin’s twin 16-year-old daughters were downstairs doing homework on Sunday afternoon.
Zeldin said the girls ran upstairs, locked themselves in a bathroom and called 911. He and his wife had left to attend a Columbus Day parade in the Bronx. Home surveillance cameras captures one of the victims lying down beneath his porch, another lying in a bush, and another uninjured person moving about the property, Zeldin said.
Suffolk County Police told Fox News that the shooting outside Rep. Lee Zeldin’s, R-N.Y., home happened around 2:20 p.m. on Sunday in Shirley on Long Island.
(Fox News)
The New York Post first identified the wounded teen victims Monday as Joel Murphy and Elijah Robinson, both 17-year-olds from Mastic, on New York’s Long Island.
Both teen victims suffered gunshot wounds to the chest in the shooting in Shirley, the Post said, citing police, noting that Murphy also reportedly suffered a lacerated liver while Robinson sustained an arm wound.
Suffolk County Police tell Fox News that the shooting happened around 2:20 p.m. on Sunday in Shirley on Long Island. Zeldin said in a statement that his two 16-year-old daughters were inside the home when the shooting happened.
(Fox News)
According to the report, a “high-ranking” law enforcement source said the teen victims were “known to the department” and had been at a recording studio on a reservation in Suffolk County that is known for gang activity. Suffolk County police declined to identify the victims to Fox News Digital.
Zeldin, a Republican, is running on tough on crime platform to dethrone Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the November gubernatorial race.
