Mayor Says Kosher Market Was Targeted in NJ Rampage

Six people—a police officer, two suspects, and three bystanders—have been confirmed dead after a shootout in Jersey City on Tuesday. Police say the shooting began outside a cemetery, when the two suspects killed Detective Joseph Seals before speeding off in a rental van that had been reported stolen, the New York Times reports. The two gunmen then entered a kosher supermarket in a Hasidic neighborhood, where they engaged police in a shootout. Authorities initially said the incident was not terror-related, but Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop tweeted Tuesday night that based on the initial investigation, "we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked." The gunmen have not been identified.

Police say the bodies of the two gunmen were found inside the kosher market, along with the bodies of three people who were either employees or customers. Police say they are confident that the bystanders were killed by the suspects, not by police gunfire, the AP reports. Police say they removed a possible "incendiary device" from the van and it is being tested by the bomb squad. Seals, 40, was reportedly shot after approaching the van, which had been linked to a murder. The detective, a married father of five, frequently worked undercover with a task force that removed illegal guns from the streets. "They have a little baby, it's so sad. They were happy kids," neighbor Josephine Gonzalez tells NJ.com. "It's really sad, especially now during the holidays." (More New Jersey stories.)