Several people were killed, including at least one officer, with many others injured, on Tuesday afternoon in Jersey City, New Jersey, Mayor Steven Fulop said, but did not provide further information. According to officials, two gunmen are barricaded inside a store after opening fire with at least one gun resulting in a firefight involving dozens of law enforcement officers, The New York Times reported.
“We need a lot of prayers right now for Jersey City officers,” tweeted the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association. “Keep all those involved in your thoughts.”
For over an hour, loud exchanges of gunfire were heard through the city’s Greenville neighborhood. All public schools in the area have reportedly been placed under lockdown, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); the FBI; and the New York Police Department Bomb Squad responding to the situation. Helicopters are circling overhead with paramedics on the scene.
A spokesman for the ATF said the agency was treating the incident as an “active shooter” situation.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the men and women of the Jersey City Police Department, especially with the officers shot during this standoff, and with the residents and schoolchildren currently under lockdown, Gov. Philip D. Murphy said in a statement.
According to CNN, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal is working closely with local, county, state, and federal officials to make sure everybody is safe. The president has also been alerted of the situation. "Please keep the officers of the Jersey City Police Department in your thoughts and prayers as they work to resolve the situation," Grewal said in a statement. "We remain, as always, extraordinarily grateful for their service and their sacrifice."
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Wednesday, Dec 11, 2019 · 5:34:51 PM +00:00
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Aysha Qamar
Six people, including one police officer, were killed in Jersey City on Tuesday during a deadly shooting. Those deceased included three people in the Kosher market where the shooting mainly took place as well as the two suspected shooters, officials said.
While none of the three victims inside have been publicly named by officials, at this time, the Jewish community in Jersey City has identified two of them as 33-year-old Mindel Ferencz, the wife of the market owner and 24-year-old Moshe Deutch, a rabbinical student who lives in Brooklyn.
The officer killed has been identified as Detective Joseph Seals, a father of five and a 15-year veteran with the Jersey City Police Department, Chief Mike Kelly said during a news conference Tuesday.
According to The New York Times, the two assailants had published anti-Semitic and anti-police posts online and investigators believe that to be the motivation of the attack, a law enforcement official familiar with the case said on Wednesday. They were identified as David Anderson and Francine Graham. Anderson appeared to have a connection to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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