Yesterday’s deadly gun battle that killed six people in Jersey City is believed to be a targeted attack on a Jewish kosher deli, reports say.
Mayor Steven Fulop announced Wednesday morning that a surveillance video revealed the shooters arriving at the store, getting out of their car and shooting into the deli.
The kosher supermarket is known as a place where around 100 Orthodox Jewish families regularly gather, reports USA Today.
“We do feel comfortable that it was a targeted attack on the Jewish kosher deli,” Fulop said. “We could see the van moving through Jersey City streets slowly. The perpetrator stopped in front of there, calmly opened the door with two long rifles — him and the other perpetrator — and began firing from the street into the facility.”
The deli, however, was not the location where the gun battle first started. Police engaged the two shooters in a nearby cemetery first. The shooters then stole a U-Haul truck and drove to the kosher deli, where they continued engaging the officers in gunfire. The gun fight in total lasted two hours before officers shot and killed the gunmen.
One of the six slain victims was a police officer. Detective Joseph Seals was shot and killed during the gunfire at Bayview Cemetery.
“He was also a husband and a father of five children, so it’s a tough day for Jersey City,” Fulop said of Seals.
Two other officers and a civilian were also injured in the shootout.
While the situation was still developing, the New Jersey State PBA sent out a tweet asking for prayers:
“Today is a horrific day. Officers have come under attack and we have several wounded. Our hearts are heavy and the violence is not over. We need prayers.”
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