Source: nbcnewyork
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| David Anderson and Francine Graham |
Who Are Jersey City Shootout Suspects?
Three sources say Anderson was a one-time follower of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, a group whose members believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites and may adhere to both Christian and Judaic beliefs. There was a note with religious writings in the U-Haul he and Graham allegedly drove to the scene, but a motive -- including any alleged nexus to hate or terror remains under active investigation, officials say.
Law enforcement sources had no immediate details on Graham, but a neighbor tells News 4 she lived near him for years. The neighbor described Graham as a former home health aide in Manhattan who met Anderson after she got hurt at work and quit; he says Graham turned into a "dark person" after they met.
The neighbor also claims Graham was coerced into a militant religion he could not identify; chanting and reading of the New Testament, translated into "evil," could be heard from her home, he said. A year ago, the neighbor says Graham stopped paying her condo fees and left. Jersey City tells News 4 the mortgage was assumed by a bank in November 2018.
The new details came shortly after local authorities announced a review of surveillance video clearly showed the market was targeted, though they, along with state and federal investigators, say a precise motive remains under investigation.
The footage shows the shooters deliberately bypass other people on the busy street, aiming directly for people inside the kosher deli. Information continues to develop, and while authorities said Tuesday that it appeared the standoff began with the deadly shooting of a police officer at a separate site, Fulop and Shea said Wednesday that the bloodshed began at the market.
"We now know this did not begin with gunfire between police officers and perpetrators and then move to the store," Shea, the brother of NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, said. "It began with an attack on the civilians inside the store."
A timeline of the bloodshed remains under investigation. At this point, the only victim who has been identified is Det. Joseph Seals, a father of five and veteran Jersey City police officer. Two customers and a cashier were killed inside JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive.
The two suspects died by police gunfire. Shea and Fulop said Wednesday that two officers on a walking post one block south of the scene responded immediately, adding more lives may have otherwise been lost. An army of law enforcement responded seconds thereafter; a number of schools, which were left with bullet-cracked windows and damage Wednesday, are nearby.
