JERSEY CITY, New Jersey -- “Multiple” people are dead inside a store on Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City, Mayor Steve Fulop said, marking the end of a tense, hours-long standoff between an armed man and woman and numerous law enforcement agencies.
Fulop, speaking at a brief news conference, would not say if the shooters, described as a man and woman dressed in black, were among the people found dead in the store, JC Kosher Supermarket.
He also would not say how many people were killed in the shooting. NBC New York is reporting that five bodies were found in the store.
One police officer was shot dead at Bayview Cemetery just before 1 p.m. Another officer was shot in the shoulder and two others were receiving medical treatment “due to shrapnel,” Fulop said. None of the police officers’ names have been released.
“It was a tough day for the Jersey City Police Department," the mayor said. “... These people work tirelessly in tough conditions.”
While the neighborhood has seen an influx of Hasidic Jewish family is in recent years, Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea said the violence is not being investigated as an act of terrorism.
The supermarket is next door to the Greenville Shul.
David Rosenberg, executive director of the North Jersey Jewish Business Alliance and the Hudson County Jewish Business Alliance, estimates that approximately 70 Jewish families live in the neighborhood.
He said the supermarket where the shootout took place is “basically the only place to get real kosher food in Jersey City.”
“It’s a very difficult day. The dust isn’t settled yet so it’s hard to talk much more.”
After noon, the two shooters arrived in a U-Haul van, got out with long guns and entered the store. From there, they fired at police officers and anyone who came into their line of vision.
Authorities spent the next three hours securing the area and trying get close to store. Jersey City was assisted by the FBI, ATF, State Police, NYPD, Bayonne police and others.
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