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Police in New Jersey say a Jewish supermarket was the target of a gun attack which left six people dead on Tuesday, including the two suspects.
No motive has yet been given, but the mayor of Jersey City tweeted on Wednesday morning that “hate and anti-Semitism” had no place in the city.
The gun battle began when the suspects killed a detective across town, then drove a rental van to the market.
Security video shows them firing on the market before going inside.
Investigators believe that the three people found dead inside the kosher market were killed by the attackers, who were also found dead inside the building following a four-hour standoff with police.
On Wednesday morning the mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, told reporters that street cameras showed the suspects “slowly” drive towards the market, then “calmly open the door with two long rifles and begin firing from the street” into the shop.
Public Safety Director James Shea added that video shows they parked their van “and immediately began firing on the location”. Asked how police are certain the shop was targeted, he said that they “bypassed” many other people walking on the street to attack the store.
The attackers have not yet been publicly identified. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that one of the suspects had made anti-Semitic and anti-police social media posts online, but that has not yet been confirmed.
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AFP
Dozens of armed officers were deployed as the suspects took shelter at a supermarket
How did the attack unfold?
Jersey City Police Chief Mike Kelly said on Tuesday that violence first erupted at a cemetery about one mile (0.6km) from the grocery store just after 12:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Local media reported that confrontation between police and the suspects was linked to a murder investigation, but this has not been confirmed by authorities.
It is believed that Detective Joseph Seals, 39, who was part of a state-wide programme to confiscate illegal guns, was killed when he approached the two suspects who were driving a van that was suspected to have played a role in a recent homicide.
The pair fled the scene in the van and drove to the kosher supermarket where they held off armed police and federal officials for four hours, shooting off hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Mr Kelly said investigators also believe the suspects’ van contained an “incendiary device” which was removed and taken away for examination by police disposal specialists.
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EPA
Police said three people in the shop may have been killed by the suspects
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said while there was no known threat to the city, he had also placed police on high alert, especially in Jewish communities. Jersey City is part of the New York metropolitan area.
“This tragically confirms that a growing pattern of violent anti-Semitism has now turned into a crisis for our nation,” he said in a tweet. “And now this threat has reached the doorstep of New York City.”
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