January 1, 2 People Shot Outside of Congressman’s Home

The two teenagers who were shot outside of Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin’s (N.Y.) home have been identified, according to a report.

On Monday, the New York Post identified the victims as Long Island’s Joel Murphy and Elijah Robinson, both age 17. They both sustained gunshot wounds to the chest, the outlet noted. Murphy also suffered a lacerated liver and Robinson sustained an arm injury.

A “high-ranking” law enforcement official told the outlet that the shooting victims were “known to the department” and had been at a location in Suffolk County that is known for gang activity prior to the incident.

Zeldin, who is running against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the state’s gubernatorial race, said that his two 16-year-old daughters were home alone when they heard “multiple gunshots.” The congressman said the twins, Mikayla and Ariana, ran upstairs screaming and locked themselves in a bathroom, where one of them called 911.

“It really freaked them out,” Zeldin said during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “This is something where you had two people who got shot who were essentially laying down about ten feet from where they were doing homework. One of the bullets landed about 30 feet from where the girls were doing homework.”

“I really am grateful for how swift and smartly the girls responded,” the lawmaker added. “Unfortunately for New Yorkers, this wasn’t the only story yesterday. You’re also reading about somebody else who got stabbed on a New York City subway, somebody else who got slashed in the East Village. I mean, this is day after day after day. And there are a lot of parents, there are a lot of families dealing with this reality of rising crime in New York for us.”

Zeldin said that his home security footage showed a gunshot victim “laying down underneath our porch,” another person shot “laying down under a bush in front of our porch just a couple of feet away,” and a third person “moving all around the property up and down the porch a couple of times through the front yard.”

“And we don’t live in some huge house with, you know, this isn’t a gated community,” he added. “This was something that happened really just feet from where they were sitting.” 

Zeldin said “the reality right now in this state is that New Yorkers don’t feel safe.”

Source: Fox News