NJ state police

Gun Battle in New Jersey Ends With Six Deaths, Including Police Officer

The shooting in Jersey City lasted for over an hour and ended with a firefight between the suspects and several police officers.

A police officer, three civilians and two suspects were fatally shot on Tuesday in Jersey City, N.J., a tragedy that culminated in a standoff between police and the suspects. At least four others were injured during the shooting, which lasted over an hour.

The officer, identified as Det. Joseph Seals, was shot at the Bay View Cemetery by two suspects who fled to a nearby Jewish supermarket, according to ABC News. Police officials said he was likely investigating a murder associated with the U-Haul truck that the two suspects were driving.

The pair then fled in a van to the kosher deli, often frequented by the local Orthodox Jewish community. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said on Wednesday that a review of security camera footage revealed that the suspects "targeted the Kosher grocery location." The footage showed the suspects "deliberately bypass" other people on the street and aiming directly for people inside the deli, according to NBC New York.

"We now know this did not begin with gunfire between police officers and perpetrators and then move to the store," James Shea, Jersey City's public safety director, said. "It began with an attack on the civilians inside the store."

One of the assailants had published anti-Semitic and anti-police posts online, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Investigators now believe that the attack on the deli was motivated by those beliefs, particularly after investigators found a manifesto in the suspects' stolen van.

Fulop told the media on Tuesday that at least three other officers were also shot, including one who was shot in the shoulder and is being treated. The other two officers are being treated for shrapnel injuries. Three civilians inside the supermarket, two customers and a cashier, were killed and one other civilian was injured, according to city officials.

  

 

The shooting took place near Sacred Heart School, a Catholic elementary, where staff locked the building down. Later, 12 of the city’s public schools were locked down, according to Jersey City Public Schools Superintendent Frank Walker. “All students and staff are safe,” the school district posted on Facebook.

Walker said the gunfire started around 12:30 p.m. The entire incident lasted for over an hour, as helicopters circled the neighborhood and officers knocked on doors and ushered people in the area to safety, The New York Times reported.

Gov. Phil Murphy said he had been briefed on the situation and that his thoughts and prayers were with the officers responding to the incident as well as the residents and schoolchildren undergoing the lockdown.

“I have every confidence in our law enforcement professionals to ensure the safety of the community and resolve this situation,” Murphy wrote in a tweet. “Today reminds us of their bravery and the sacrifices they, and their families, make for our communities.”

 

This article has been updated to reflect new information released by police officials, including the targeting of the Jewish supermarket by the suspects. 

Featured

  • Gaining a Competitive Edge

    Ask most companies about their future technology plans and the answers will most likely include AI. Then ask how they plan to deploy it, and that is where the responses may start to vary. Every company has unique surveillance requirements that are based on market focus, scale, scope, risk tolerance, geographic area and, of course, budget. Those factors all play a role in deciding how to configure a surveillance system, and how to effectively implement technologies like AI. Read Now

  • 6 Ways Security Awareness Training Empowers Human Risk Management

    Organizations are realizing that their greatest vulnerability often comes from within – their own people. Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity breaches, making it imperative for organizations to address human risk effectively. As a result, security awareness training (SAT) has emerged as a cornerstone in this endeavor because it offers a multifaceted approach to managing human risk. Read Now

  • The Stage is Set

    The security industry spans the entire globe, with manufacturers, developers and suppliers on every continent (well, almost—sorry, Antarctica). That means when regulations pop up in one area, they often have a ripple effect that impacts the entire supply chain. Recent data privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California made waves when they first went into effect, forcing businesses to change the way they approach data collection and storage to continue operating in those markets. Even highly specific regulations like the U.S.’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can have international reverberations – and this growing volume of legislation has continued to affect global supply chains in a variety of different ways. Read Now

  • Access Control Technology

    As we move swiftly toward the end of 2024, the security industry is looking at the trends in play, what might be on the horizon, and how they will impact business opportunities and projections. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area. 3

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises. 3