DA: Teen charged with having gun used in shooting outside Zeldin home

Suffolk Police have arrested and charged a Shirley teenager with possessing the handgun fired in a drive-by shooting last month outside the home of Rep. Lee Zeldin, authorities said.

Noah Green, 18, was arrested Monday and faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property, according to police and Suffolk prosecutors.

He has not been charged with the October double shooting that left two teenagers with nonfatal injuries. His possible involvement in the shooting "is still under active investigation," prosecutors said in court filings.

“The gun Green possessed was the weapon used in the shooting, but that does not mean that he was the shooter necessarily," Zeldin said in a statement Tuesday. "This investigation is still ongoing and we will continue to help law enforcement in any way we can.”

Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor, was not home at the time of the shooting. The congressman's twin 16-year-old daughters were home and locked themselves in a bathroom when they heard gunshots and called 911, Zeldin said.

No one in the Zeldin family was hurt and Suffolk police said there was no connection between the shooting and the House member.

"Through that collaborative and diligent police work, we have now recovered one of the firearms used in that dangerous shooting," Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement. "The investigation is continuing and we expect ... more developments in the future."

Green, who faces up to 3.5 years in prison, was arraigned Tuesday in Suffolk Criminal Court in Central Islip and held on $750,000 cash bail or $1.5 million bond. 

"The case against Mr. Green is nothing more than [an] allegation and he has pled not guilty and deserves the assumption of innocence at this point," said Bryan Browns, chief legal operations officer for the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, which is representing the teenager.

On Oct. 9, according to police, three teenagers were walking on Saint George Drive West in Shirley when a dark-colored vehicle drove by and "an occupant fired multiple gunshots through the car's window."

Two 17-year-old boys were struck and attempted to hide in the yard of a home on the street, police said, while a third teen fled on foot.

Suffolk police were conducting surveillance Monday outside Green's Allanwood Drive home when they observed the suspect get into a stolen 2022 Honda CRV, prosecutors wrote in a bail application memo.

As authorities approached Green, he exited the vehicle, attempting to flee by jumping on the hood of the police vehicle, prosecutors wrote. 

When police attempted to put Green in custody, the teen began to reach into his pants pocket but officers were able to grab his hand, the memo stated. Authorities allegedly recovered a loaded Taurus 9 mm pistol from the pocket, prosecutors said.

Green's fingerprints were allegedly found on the fully loaded magazine inside the weapon, which matches the one used in the Shirley shooting, according to a forensic analysis of the gun, the DA's office wrote.

The suspect told police he "just got that gun. I'm carrying it for protection," according to charging documents.

Surveillance video and eyewitness statements matched the stolen Honda CRV to one used in the shooting, authorities said.

Green posted a photo on his Snapchat account Friday that shows him holding a firearm in the stolen Honda, court filings state.

He is due back in court in Central Islip on Friday.