Mayor Steven Fulop believes shooters planned attack at Jewish school next to grocery store

Local, state and federal officers believe the suspects in Tuesday’s deadly shooting in Jersey City were motivated by hate, both for police officers and for members of the Jewish community.

News 12 Staff

Dec 13, 2019, 10:37 AM

Updated 1,594 days ago

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Local, state and federal officers believe the suspects in Tuesday’s deadly shooting in Jersey City were motivated by hate, both for police officers and for members of the Jewish community.
Francine Graham and David Anderson were later shot and killed inside the JC Kosher Supermarket after a long and intense gun battle with police.
It is believed the pair shot and killed Detective Joseph Seals because he was watching the pair as they were prime suspects in a recent murder in Bayonne.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop says he thinks the shooters planned to attack a Jewish school located next to the grocery store.
"Everybody in the community knows that is a school and location that the Orthodox Jewish people congregate and that it's adjacent or part of the building with the supermarket," says Fulop.
New Jersey State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal says he thinks the shooters acted on their own.
Investigators found five guns linked to the suspects, four inside the supermarket, and another in the U-Haul parked out front.
An AR-15 style weapon was recovered inside the store, which Anderson is believed to have been firing as he entered the supermarket. A Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun was also recovered, which they believe Graham was carrying as she entered the supermarket.
A 9 mm Ruger semi-automatic firearm and a 9 mm Glock 17 were recovered. Inside the U-Haul, a 22-caliber Ruger Mark IV, with a homemade silencer, and a homemade device to catch the shell casings.
Using serial numbers found on the firearms, two of the weapons, the shotgun and the 22-caliber Ruger Mark IV, were purchased by Graham at separate gun shops in Ohio in the spring of 2018.
It's thought the shooters expressed interest in the Black Hebrew Israelites Movement, though they aren't linked directly to that group.
"The evidence points towards acts of hate,” says Grewal. “I can confirm that we're investigating this matter as potential acts of domestic terrorism fueled both by anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs."
The FBI has created a website where people can upload pictures or video of Tuesday's attack on Martin Luther King Drive in an effort to gather as much information as possible. 
AP wire services helped contribute to this report.
Watch the entire press conference
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WATCH: Authorities hold news conference on Jersey City shooting

WATCH: Gov. Murphy thanks police for response during Jersey City shootout
WATCH: Mayor Fulop: No question Jersey City shooting was a hate crime


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