Jersey City Shootout Suspects Identified: Sources
At least 100 bullets were fired in the harrowing, hours-long shootout that shut down all Jersey City public schools and terrified the community
What to Know
- One detective and three civilians were killed during a targeted shootout and standoff at a Jersey City kosher market Tuesday, officials say
- Two other officers and another civilian were hurt but are expected to be OK; the suspects were shot and killed by law enforcement
- A motive for the shootout remains under investigation, but local authorities said Wednesday video shows the deli was clearly the target
The two people who stormed a kosher grocery store in Jersey City with rifles, killing three people inside and also murdering a veteran detective, have been identified as David Anderson and Francine Graham, four law enforcement sources familiar with the case tell News 4.
Three sources say Anderson was a one-time follower of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, a group whose members believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites and may adhere to both Christian and Judaic beliefs. There was a note with religious writings in the U-Haul he and Graham allegedly drove to the scene, but a motive -- including any alleged nexus to hate or terror remains under active investigation, officials say.
Jersey City Shootout
Two suspects among six dead in barrage of gunfire that terrorized city for hours
Officials also said there were online postings connected to Anderson's social page with anti-police and anti-Jewish writings. Investigators are looking to see if Anderson himself posted that material.
The new details came shortly after local authorities announced a review of surveillance video clearly showed the market was targeted, though they, along with state and federal investigators, say a precise motive remains under investigation.
They park the van. They exit the van with long guns in their hands. And they immediately begin firing in the location where we lost three of our citizens yesterday.JAMES SHEA, JERSEY CITY PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR
The footage shows the shooters deliberately bypass other people on the busy street, aiming directly for people inside the kosher deli. Information continues to develop, and while authorities said Tuesday that it appeared the standoff began with the deadly shooting of a police officer at a separate site, Fulop and Shea said Wednesday that the bloodshed began at the market.
"We now know this did not begin with gunfire between police officers and perpetrators and then move to the store," Shea, the brother of NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, said. "It began with an attack on the civilians inside the store.
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A timeline of the bloodshed remains under investigation. At this point, the only victim who has been identified is Det. Joseph Seals, a father of five and veteran Jersey City police officer. Two customers and a cashier were killed inside JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive.
The two suspects died by police gunfire. Shea and Fulop said Wednesday that two officers on a walking post one block south of the scene responded immediately, adding more lives may have otherwise been lost. An army of law enforcement responded seconds thereafter; a number of schools, which were left with bullet-cracked windows and damage Wednesday, are nearby.
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