As many as six people may be dead — including a police officer, two suspects and three civilians — during an “ambush” active shooter situation at a store in Jersey City Tuesday afternoon, officials and law enforcement sources said.
Law enforcement sources identified the dead officer as a 39-year-old married father of five.
At least one wounded civilian, along with two wounded officers, are expected to survive, officials said.
According to three senior law enforcement officials, the shoot-out began as a homicide investigation. The deceased officer approached suspects in that investigation and was shot and killed. The suspects then fled into the Jersey City Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive, where the standoff started around 12:30 p.m.
A law enforcement source said the suspects were holed up in a bodega for hours, one of whom was armed with a long gun.
Four other people were thought to be inside the bodega, the senior official said, stressing the highly preliminary nature of the evolving investigation. There were at least three civilians killed inside the store as well, a law enforcement source tells NBC New York.
Tight security was evident at Jersey City Medical Center, where police responded en masse as local law enforcement groups sought prayers on behalf of their colleagues.
Heavily armed local and state officers in SWAT trucks swarmed the scene, ducking behind doorways and store entrances — some even crawling along sidewalks, closely pressed to the ground — as they zeroed in on the store. Gunshots — dozens of them, it appeared — continued to ring out throughout the afternoon, based on audio from the scene.
The streets in the immediate area were totally empty of what would normally be heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Senior law enforcement officials tell News 4 it appears the suspect or suspects arrived at the scene in a truck. They want to check that truck as a precaution to ensure the vehicle itself is not a threat.
Federal ATF and FBI agents in Newark also confirmed they were responding to the scene to assist as needed, as was the NYPD’s Special Ops team. About a dozen schools in the vicinity were locked down initially. By 2 p.m., the lockdown order extended to every public school in the entire city, the district’s superintendent said.
The schools, including an elementary school right across the street from the store where the suspects holed up, remained on lockdown until around 4:30 p.m.
Some parents were upset the schools sent out robocalls during the lockdown saying it had been lifted before 4:15 p.m., but students were still not released for more than a half hour later.
Superintendent of Jersey City Schools Frank Walker tells News 4 he was informed there was gunfire near one of the schools in his PS 29 district shortly after 12:30 p.m. Mass transit was also affected, with a number of bus and rail suspensions.
Andy Patel works at a liquor store about three blocks away from the site of the shooting site and said there had been consistent gunfire fire for about an hour. There was a brief pause — and cops used the time to clear streets.
It’s like firecrackers going off. They were shooting like crazy about an hour ago. Then it stopped for like 20 or 30 minutes.
andy patel, witness
President Trump has been briefed on the situation, the White House said, and he later tweeted that “thoughts & prayers are w/ the victims & their families during the very difficult & tragic time.”
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal tweeted after the incident:
“Our hearts break for the family of the fallen @jcpolicedept officer and for the entire law enforcement family. Today’s tragic events serve as a stark reminder of how our brave first responders stand ready to run to danger at a moment’s notice to keep us safe.”
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