Police officer, others killed in Jersey City shootout

Police officer, others killed in Jersey City shootout

Three Chasidic Jews hurt in gunfire reported near kosher supermarket

The Jersey City Kosher Supermarket was a site of a shootout, December 10, 2019.
The Jersey City Kosher Supermarket was a site of a shootout, December 10, 2019.

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — A police officer and an unspecified number of other people were killed, and at least two other police officers were wounded in Jersey City, according to its mayor, Steve Fulop.

Three Chasidic Jews were among those wounded in the gunfire Tuesday in Jersey City, New Jersey, that left a neighborhood, including a school, on lockdown, according to Israeli officials.

Sporadic, heavy gunfire rang out over the course of at least an hour along a major thoroughfare where the shooting occurred. SWAT teams and federal agents responded to the scene, and police blocked off the area, which has a Catholic school, some stores, a kosher supermarket and a hair stylist. Phones rang unanswered at several businesses. The Catholic parish, Sacred Heart, has closed, and no one answered at its associated school, which runs from preschool through eighth grade.

Police tactical teams were going through the school, which remained on lockdown, according to scanner traffic.

Jersey City Police said they had no information to provide over the phone on the shooting.

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry, tasked with determining if Israeli citizens are among the victims in such situations, said Israeli diplomats were aware of three Chasidic Jews hurt in the incident, though none were Israeli citizens.

One was wounded in his hand as he fled the scene. Two others were wounded in the kosher supermarket. All are believed to be members of the Satmar Chasidic group.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said US President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring it.

Loud volleys of gunfire could be heard at regular intervals but subsided around 2 p.m. in the city.

Video images showed a line of police officers armed with weapons pointed in several directions walking down the sidewalk. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was responding.

Dozens of bystanders pressed against the police barrier to film the action on cellphones, some whooping when gunfire bursts filled the air.

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 for about an hour Tuesday afternoon.

“I can hear the gunshots. It’s like firecrackers going off. They were shooting like crazy about an hour ago. Then it stopped for like 20 or 30 minutes. The cops were clearing everyone off the streets,” said Patel.

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