What We Know About the Jersey City Shooting Victims, Including a Father-of-5 and a Young Mother
Officials have identified the four victims of Tuesday’s hours-long shootout in Jersey City, New Jersey, that left a police officer dead and three civilians killed inside a kosher market.
Detective Joseph Seals of the Jersey City Police Department was the first person killed in the prolonged gunfight that began in a local cemetery, while Mindy Ferenz, Moshe Deutsch and Miguel Douglas were all later killed in the market frequented by members of the local Jewish community. Another civilian was also shot inside the market, but survived and is not being publicly identified, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting spree broke out at the JC Kosher Supermarket owned by Ferenz’s husband, according to Grewal. The crime has sparked concerns that it was an anti-Semitic attack, although Grewal’s office, the lead investigative agency in the case, said Wednesday afternoon that they are not releasing a motive yet.
Seals was a husband and father of five from Jersey City who was a police officer for 15 years, according to the New Jersey State Police Officer’s Benevolent Association. On Twitter, Fulop said Seals was probably responsible for “more guns being removed from the streets than any.”
Here’s what to know about the victims of Tuesday’s shooting.
Detective Joseph Seals
Seals, a husband and father of five, was the first victim to be identified. Grewal said he was killed at the Bay View Cemetery, located about a mile away from the JC Kosher Supermarket. Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly told reporters Tuesday evening that Seals, who joined the police force in 2009, was a leading police officer on the department’s cease fire unit and responsible for removing guns off the street. Kelly said Seals was killed trying to interdict the suspects who later killed three others.
The Jersey City Police Officer’s Benevolent Association began a GoFundMe to support Seals’ family. “We are heartbroken at the loss of yet another police officer killed in the line of duty,” the union wrote. “The officers involved came to work Tuesday, December 10, like they did every day, seeking to make our city safer.”
Mindy Ferenz
Ferenz, 32, was identified by the Office of the Attorney General on Wednesday afternoon. Chabad Rabbi Moshe Schapiro identified her to reporters, who said she and her husband have three children. Her husband owned the market where most of the shootings took place.
Rabbi David Niederman, president and executive director of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and Northern Brooklyn, told reporters Wednesday that she and her family moved to Jersey City because they found it to be more affordable than NYC. “She was a lady full of love for others, and unfortunately her life was cut so short,” he said.
Moshe Deutsch
Deutsch was 24 years old. De Blasio told reporters Wednesday morning that he was the son of a well-known Brooklyn community leader, Abe Deutsch.
Miguel Douglas
The Office of the Attorney General said the third civilian killed, who was not Jewish according to Niederman, was 49 years old.