Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop suspects that two shooters who targeted a kosher market on Tuesday originally intended to attack a Jewish school next door.
Fulop posited the theory on Friday after reviewing more video of the attack. The shooters appeared to try to enter the Jewish school, where 50 children were studying the tenets of Judaism. They ended up entering the Jewish-owned store next door.
“My opinion is that as more info comes out it’ll become increasingly clear that the target was the 50 children at the Yeshiva attached to that store. We will never know 100% but the doorway to the yeshiva was 3 feet away + it seems he goes in that direction 1st,” Fulop tweeted.
“This is a horrible tragedy but even in so much darkness with lives lost there is some light in that without question had the bravery/quick response of the police not trapped them in the store this could have been much much worse,” Fulop concluded.
This is a horrible tragedy but even in so much darkness with lives lost there is some light in that without question had the bravery/quick response of the police not trapped them in the store this could have been much much worse.
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) December 13, 2019
Here’s the video that seems to indicate the #JerseyCityAttack shooter considered going into the yeshiva with 50 kids first before changing direction back to the grocery, possibly because the door was secured. https://t.co/ZBY3C79zw8 pic.twitter.com/xfmGy1Aauy
— Elder Of Ziyon ҉ (@elderofziyon) December 13, 2019
Authorities have said that the shooters were carrying out a targeted attack on the Jersey City Jewish community. The shooters killed four people, including one police officer. Law enforcement killed both shooters in a firefight after responding to the attack on the market.
“We believe the suspects held views that reflected hatred of the Jewish people, as well as the hatred of law enforcement,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said.
Authorities are investigating the attack as an act of domestic terrorism. The suspects, David N. Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, were members of an anti-Semitic hate group known as the Black Hebrew Israelites.
