New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal confirmed during a press conference today that the two shooters who “turned a Jersey City neighborhood into a battle field” yesterday are the prime suspects in the case of an Uber driver found dead in Bayonne last week.
The two shooters, David Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, wreaked havoc on Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood after killing a police detective and then shooting into a kosher market on Martin Luther King Drive, killing three civilians.
Grewal noted that around 12:21 p.m., Anderson exited a U-Haul with a rifle at began shooting at the JC Kosher Supermarket, with Graham following him into the store.
Inside the store, four civilians were shot, with three of them killed. Leah Mindy Ferencz, 32, who co-owned the deli, Moshe Deutsch, 24, and Miguel Douglas, 49, whose identity had not previously been released.
He declined to name the survivor, noting that the investigation is ongoing.
“The survivor was able to escape the store at the beginning of the incident and we are not providing his name at this time,” Grewal said, noting that authorities became aware of the death of Jersey City Police Det. Joseph Seals after a 911 call was made around 12:38 p.m.
Investigators have not determined a possible motive for the violent attack, Grewal said during a presser hosted at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office today, reiterating many times that it was too early to name a motive.
Grewal confirmed that the two shooters, who were found dead in the market after the firing had ceased yesterday, are suspects regarding the death of Michael Rumberger, who was found dead in his vehicle on Saturday, Dec. 7.
“I will say this: The two suspects who are deceased in this case, Anderson and Graham, are prime suspects in the Bayonne Uber driver killing.”
Rumberger, 34, of Jersey City, was found on Saturday with blunt trauma to his head in the trunk of a Lincoln Town car in the area of 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Bayonne.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause and manner of death are pending an investigation by the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and the Bayonne Police Department are actively investigating this case. No arrests have been made at this time and his daughter has since set up a GoFundMe page to cover his funeral costs.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop have already declared the incident a hate crime and Fulop will be holding his own presser near the scene of the crime at 4 p.m.
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9) referred to the horrific incident as a terror attack, also indicating he believes anti-Semitic sentiment led to the killings.
“They were targeted for being Jewish. No American should feel unsafe because of their religion. Not one,” the congressman said.
“An attack on any person for their religion is an attack on every one of us. Antisemitism is a cancer on the world that must be stamped out wherever it rears its ugly head.”
Furthermore, FBI Newark Office Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie noted that the U-haul contained a man made explosive.
“It was a viable device, meaning it could be a device that would have exploded. It was of a pipe bomb design. Not complicated but sophisticated in that time and effort went into creating it.”
The entire press conference streamed live on our Facebook page and can be viewed below.
Marc Bussanich, Corey McDonald, and John Heinis all contributed to this report.
Follow Corey McDonald on Twitter @cwmcdonald_
