Six people, including a police officer and three bystanders, were killed after a furious gunbattle in New Jersey. The gunbattle that filled the streets of Jersey City with the sound of heavy gunfire for hours had prompted a massive police response. The dead also included two suspects. Two officers were also wounded in the exchange of gunfire. They were later released from the hospital.
Jersey City Police Chief Mike Kelly identified the slain police officer as Detective Joseph Seals.
The Associated Press reported. Jersey City that Mayor Steven Fulop described the detective as “one of the best officers for getting the most guns off the streets. He was a good cop.”
The shoot out had started at Bayview Cemetery, where a police officer was shot in the shoulder. Two suspects then fled the scene and holed up in a Jewish grocery about a mile away at 223 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. About a dozen schools in the area were placed on lockdown during the shooting. The lockdown was lifted at 4:15 p.m.
It’s unclear what sparked the shooting and the investigation are still on.
The bullets started flying early in the afternoon in the city of about 270,000 people, situated across the Hudson River from the Statue of Liberty.
Video shot by residents recorded loud volleys of gunfire reverberating along one of the city’s main streets and showed a long line of law enforcement officers pointing guns as they advanced, yelling to bystanders, “Clear the street! Get out of the way!”
According to NJ.com, the two gunmen arrived in the area in a moving van, each carrying long guns into the bodega. They were dressed in black. Bomb squad officers were examining the stolen U-Haul vehicle that may contain an incendiary device.
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