Jersey City Shootout Leaves Young Mom And Yeshiva Boy Dead Inside A Kosher Grocery

A barrage of gunfire with hundreds of rounds fired concluded around 2:00 pm in the Greenville section of Jersey City, NJ Tuesday afternoon as a deadly shooting left four victims lifeless inside a kosher supermarket including two confirmed frum Jewish members – R’ Mrs. Leah Mindel Ferentz a”h,33, Moshe Hersh Deutch a”h ,24, according to Yeshiva World News. 15-year veteran Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals was also deceased just after noon after approaching a vehicle stationed near Bay View Cemetery linked to a Bayonne, NJ homicide three nights prior. Misaskim founder Rabbi Jack Meyer was on the scene alongside Chesed Shel Emes and NJ State Police Chaplain Rabbi Abe Friedman to ensure proper procedures were followed for the Jewish victims. Two other officers and three others were injured. The suspects were found dead in the JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City.

Community activist and Chassidic resident Chesky Deutsch had spoken with a Brooklyn victim in his twenties being treated for three gunshot wounds. “He had been shopping at the grocery when the shooting broke out and has faded memories of the incident,” Deutsch reported.

Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, Director of Chabad Young Professionals of Hoboken and Jersey City noted that Grenville’s Jewish community has recently seen a sudden growth spurt of various groups of Chassidim and JC Kosher Supermarket is the center of much of the community’s activity. Rabbi Moshe Schapiro also of the local Chabad noted that next door is the Greenville Beis Medrash and a yeshiva is not far off. About a hundred Yiddish-speaking families have moved into wood-framed homes priced at just $300,000 compared to nearly triple the price for similar homes in New York. These families are pioneers in a demographic and religious shift reshaping neighborhoods in other unexpected locales like Willowbrook in Staten Island and Toms River and Jackson Township in New Jersey. JC Kosher owner Moshe Ferencz who opened the established to service the community in July of 2017 had stepped out to pray mincha moments before the shootout consumed his store.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a yeshiva graduate and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, called the day “really tough” for the city. In a late night tweet the mayor alerted the public that enforcement believes the Jewish shop to be a targeted point of attack.

Dressed in black two men fled the scene at the cemetery in a stolen U-Haul and ended up at the JC Kosher Supermarket where the gun battle continued. Hundreds of law enforcement soon descended upon the area taking up defensive positions as the suspects had barricaded themselves inside the supermarket. It was noted by Consul General of Israel Dani Dayan Tuesday afternoon that “this does not appear to be a hate crime or terror attack.” This sentiment was reiterated by City Public Safety Director James Shea, “the bloodshed was not an act of terrorism.”

Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly noted that the crime scene is spread across at least three locations and that a U-Haul possibly containing incendiary devices was removed from the scene for further investigation. Seals was an exemplary officer known to “remove guns from the streets.”

Jersey City schools, a yeshiva and NJ City University were placed on lockdown for several hours as a precaution. Rail and bus service were as well suspended on the west side of Jersey City.

President Donald Trump was briefed and continued to monitor the investigation as NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio offered NYC’s assistance.

The investigation is said to continue for weeks and new details are sure to emerge.