One of the shooters in Wednesday's attack on a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, NJ had published anti-Semitic posts on the internet, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
The six dead in the incident, which began in a local cemetery, included three civilians, one police officer, and both shooters, authorities said.
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According to the police chief, the suspects first killed a police officer in the cemetery. They then ran to the grocery store, killed four, and were ultimately killed by police in a shootout.
New Jersey's attorney general's office is now handling the investigation of the shooting, which left one police officer and three civilians dead. The attack is being investigated as an anti-Semitic incident although the authorities have yet to classify it as such.
In October 2018, 11 Jews were murdered in a Pittsburgh synagogue, and in April 2019, a woman was killed in an attack on a synagogue in Poway, California. This latest attack, if deemed as an attack targeting Jews, would be the third deadly anti-Semitic incident in the United States in 14 months.
The exact motives of the attack are unclear, but an official told The New York Times Wednesday that people working on the case are under the impression that anti-Semitic and anti-police sentiments were the likely motives. It has also transpired that the killers drove a U-Haul truck that had been used during a homicide over the weekend.
Leah Minda Ferencz, 33, and Moshe Deutsch, 24, were among the four people who were killed at the kosher grocery. The two suspects in question were killed by authorities during a shootout.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is adamant that Tuesday afternoon's shooting was not a random attack, but that the kosher grocery store in question was targeted.
He did not, however, specify if the attack was anti-Semitic.
Citing surveillance footage to back up his claim, Fulop tweeted, "Last night after an extensive review of our CCTV system it has now become clear from the cameras that these two individuals targeted the kosher grocery."
He added that his department "feels comfortable that it was a targeted attack on the Jewish kosher deli."
Since the crime scene stretched across three different locations, authorities say the investigation could take weeks or months.
New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio said that he's deployed officers to protect Jewish institutions across the city.
"Although there is no credible or specific threat directed against New York City, I have directed the NYPD to assume a state of high alert. Tonight, NYPD assets are being redeployed to protect key locations in the Jewish community. Tomorrow, we will announce additional measures," de Blasio tweeted on Tuesday.
