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Police in the New York metropolitan area were put on high alert to protect Jewish neighborhoods after an hours-long gunbattle with two men around a Jersey City kosher market that killed six people, authorities said.
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The police shoot-out with two men armed with high-powered rifles erupted after midday on Tuesday in Jersey City, New Jerseys second-largest municipality directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The six dead included three civilians, one police officer and both gunmen, authorities said.
Jersey City police said initially that the gunmens motive was not known. But Mayor Steven Fulop said on Tuesday night that two gunmen had deliberately targeted the Jewish JC Kosher Supermarket where the four-hour gunbattle played out.
“Based on our initial investigation (which is ongoing) we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked,” Fulop said in a tweet.
“Due to an excess of caution the community may see additional police resources in the days/weeks ahead,” Fulop wrote. “We have no indication there are any further threat(s).”
Based on our initial investigation (which is ongoing) we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked. Due to an excess of caution the community may see additional police resources in the days/weeks ahead. We have no indication there are any further threats
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) December 11, 2019
'Pattern of violent anti-Semitism'
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that while there was no known specific threat to the city, he had placed city police on high alert, in particular to protect Jewish residents.
“Tonight NYPD assets are being deployed to protect key locations in the Jewish community. Tomorrow we will announce additional measures,” he said.
“This tragically confirms that a growing pattern of violent anti-Semitism has now turned into a crisis for our nation. And now this threat has reached the doorstep of New York City.”
Police had said earlier on Tuesday they believed the kosher grocery was randomly singled out by the gunmen.
Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly told reporters there was no immediate evidence the bloodshed was a hate crime or terrorism-related, “but thats certainly on the table”.
Some local media reported the initial confrontation between the suspects and police near the Jersey City cemetery, about a mile away fromRead More – Source
