A Republican running for governor of New York on an anti-crime message had a talking point literally play out on his doorstep over the weekend.
Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York was away from home when his daughters called 911 in response to a shocking drive-by shooting in broad daylight that left one teen suspect hiding in fear for his life under the representative’s porch and another ducking for cover by jumping over his fence.
News outlets reported that police officials said the victims were known to police for prior involvement in car break-ins, and that the shooting may have occurred following an altercation at a local recording studio.
“There was blood in the rock right next to the porch,” he told The New York Post. “One of the shooting victims was underneath the porch. The other was underneath bushes near the porch.”
Mr Zeldin added that he did not know the identities of the victims. The congressman said in a press release that his daughters were doing homework at the family’s kitchen table when the shooting occurred; they then ran upstairs for cover in a bathroom.
The Republican is challenging incumbent Gov Kathy Hochul next month as she seeks her first full term, and has centred much of his campaign on the issue of violent crime around the state of New York.
Just two days before the shooting, he had ripped Ms Hochul as a “soft on crime sellout” in a tweet.
The murder rate in New York City alone has ticked up in the 2020s after reaching historic lows in the 2010s, including through much of the tenure of former Mayor Bill de Blasio. It still remains multitudes lower than the murder rate experienced by the city in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
Mr Zeldin resides in Shirley, New York, located on Long Island. The town has a lower crime rate than New York City as a whole, which itself has a lower crime rate than the national average.
