Lone survivor of Jersey shooting at kosher supermarket says attackers were ‘professional’

The lone survivor of a brutal shooting at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City has said the two attackers appeared to be ‘professional’ and it was clear they ‘came to kill’.

David Lax explained how he dived under a salad bar and pushed his way past one of the shooters in order to escape an attack at the JC Kosher Supermarket on Tuesday. 

Six people, including the two suspects, three civilians and a police detective, were killed across two locations after a two-hour standoff at the Jewish market. 

Detective Joseph Seals, 39, was gunned down and killed by shooters Francine Graham, 50, and David Anderson, 47, who went on to hijack a U-Haul truck, kill three civilians in the market, and engage in an hours-long shootout with police. Anderson and Graham were then killed by officers.  

David Lax (left with Gabe Gutierrez), the lone survivor of a shooting at JC Kosher Supermarket, has said the two attackers appeared to be ‘professional’ and ‘came to kill’

The shooting was on Thursday being investigated as a ‘potential act of domestic terrorism fueled both by anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs’, NBC News reported. 

Police said Anderson had made anti-Semitic posts online ahead of the attack. A pipe bomb and a brief but ‘rambling’ manifesto was found inside the U-Haul, it was reported. 

‘We believe the suspects held views that reflected hatred of the Jewish people, as well as a hatred of law enforcement’, added New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.  

Lax said that, although he was unsure of a motive, the pair appeared ‘very professional’ due to ‘the way they were carrying themselves, the way they were handling themselves’.  

Pictured: Francine Graham

Pictured: David Anderson

Six people, including the two suspects Francine Graham (left) and David Anderson (right), were killed across two locations after a two-hour standoff at the Jewish market

Recovery and clean up crews work to board up the JC Kosher Supermarket on Wednesday

Recovery and clean up crews work to board up the JC Kosher Supermarket on Wednesday

‘They came to kill’, he said, ‘Put it that way: They came to kill’. 

The Army has since confirmed Anderson served in the US Army Reserve from 1999 to 2003 as a fuel and electrical system repairer. 

He explained how the attack was over in around 10 seconds, and said he managed to avoid being killed by diving under a refrigerated salad bar when he heard the first shots.

Lax remained hidden there until he was given an opportune moment to escape, in which he ran towards Graham and ‘redirected her arm’ while making a break for the door.

Emergency workers at the scene of the shooting on Wednesday morning. Officials now say the attack was a targeted, anti-Semitic hate crime

Emergency workers at the scene of the shooting on Wednesday morning. Officials now say the attack was a targeted, anti-Semitic hate crime 

The cop car that rammed the storefront is taken away from the scene on Tuesday night amid heavy snowfall

The cop car that rammed the storefront is taken away from the scene on Tuesday night amid heavy snowfall

Moshe Hirsch Deutsch, 24, was among those killed

Leah Mindel Ferencz, 33, was also killed

Moshe Hirsch Deutsch (left), 24, was among those killed as was Leah Mindel Ferencz (right)

‘She was kind of big, also, so she had to pivot herself to come in, so in that second I went right away in, I went right away in, and I redirected the arm and in and out’, he said.

In the moment, Lax, who owns a nearby store, came across a child outside the supermarket and ushered him away from the scene of the brutal assault. 

He described how he told the child ‘You come with me’ before he ran quickly away from the shop and called the police. 

Members of the Chesed Shel Emes, a Jewish organization which helps families through grief, were on the scene on Tuesday night to gather the blood of the victims

Members of the Chesed Shel Emes, a Jewish organization which helps families through grief, were on the scene on Tuesday night to gather the blood of the victims 

‘They were there to shoot and to kill the most possible’, he said. ‘I’m not sure why, but I’m alive’.

Those killed in the attack on Tuesday have been named as Moshe Hirsch Deutsch, 24; Leah Mindel Ferencz, 33; Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, 49, and Detective Seals. Ferencz was the wife of the supermarket’s owner and Rodriguez is believed to be an employee at the store.

Timeline of Jersey City shootout 

Prior to 12.30pm: Detective Seals is shot dead at Bay View Cemetery after approaching a suspect vehicle in a homicide investigation.

The two suspects flee the cemetery in a stolen U-Haul and are immediately pursued by police.

12.30pm: About mile away, the suspects ditch the stolen U-Haul and run inside the JC Kosher Supermarket, taking hostages.

12.30pm to around 3pm: Suspects fired repeatedly at cops from inside the store, as police set up a perimeter.

Around 3pm: Cops stormed the market in an armored vehicle, crashing through the plate glass window. Cops killed the suspects, and three civilians were found dead at the suspects’ hands. 

4.15pm: Children were finally released from nearby schools after lockdowns lifted.

The victims were preyed upon by shooters who drove to the supermarket slowly and calmly from the Bay View Cemetery, where they had killed Detective Seals. Seals had been investigating the murder of Michael Rumberger, 34, over the weekend when he approached the pair at around 12.30pm.

According to authorities, Graham and Anderson had driven calmly in the stolen U-Haul van to the supermarket then got out of the vehicle with ‘long’ assault rifles and started shooting.

Two police officers who happened to be a block away sprinted to the scene upon hearing shots and returned fire on the suspects. This triggered a two-hour standoff.

The chaos concluded when a team including former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik’s son, Joseph, rammed the storefront with an armored cop car. The two shooters and their three victims were found dead inside. 

It is still not known why Anderson and Graham attacked the detective and the JC Kosher Supermarket in particular, CNN reported. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk