The heavily armed shooters who executed a Jersey City, N.J., cop before killing three helpless victims inside a kosher business were fueled by their hatred of police and the Jewish faith, authorities said Thursday.
Slain killers David Anderson and Francine Graham had no affiliation with any hate groups, and it remained unclear why the pair specifically targeted the JC Kosher Supermarket and Detective Joseph Seals during their bloody Tuesday afternoon rampage, said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
"We believe the two shooters were acting on their own," he told a Jersey City news conference. "So let me be plain about this: The evidence points to acts of hate. I can confirm that we're investigating this matter as potential acts of domestic terrorism, fueled by both anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs.
"The investigation is ongoing as to why the detective was killed by these two suspects and why this particular grocery store was selected."
Authorities were scouring social media accounts linked to the killers, who expressed their hatred of cops and Jews in the online forums, officials said. Investigators had not identified any co-conspirators in the first 48 hours after the killing started during the Tuesday lunch hour.
Moishe Ferencz, whose wife, Mindy, was one of the three victims inside the family-run supermarket, remained too devastated Thursday to speak about the carnage unleashed inside his small business.
"He's in tremendous pain," said Meier Ferencz, 44, speaking on his inconsolable brother's behalf one day after Mindy's funeral. "He's with investigators. He's not oriented to be approached."
Ferencz said his sister-in-law was laid to rest in upstate New York following the Wednesday night services honoring her in Brooklyn and then in Jersey City. The young couple came across the Hudson River about four years ago, settling in New Jersey and opening their business while raising three children.
"I am proud of my sister-in-law," Ferencz said. "She was an honor to have in the family. She was standing at the cash register at the time. ... We have to withstand the horror. It's painful. It's very painful."
Authorities also revealed that Anderson and Graham were more heavily armed than initially thought, with a total of five weapons linked to the pair.
Anderson, 47, carried a weapon resembling an AR-15 assault rifle and Graham, 50, was armed with a Mosberg 12-gauge shotgun when they opened fire on the kosher business adjacent to a local synagogue. The other guns, along with a pipe bomb, were found inside the couple's stolen U-Haul van.
Video showed the killers, after gunning down the three innocent victims in the store, ignoring passers-by to fire only at police officers.
"They were clearly targeting that store," said Newark U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. "They were clearly targeting the Jersey City Police Department. We don't know why."
The rental van used by the killers to flee the graveyard where Seals was killed and drive to the supermarket was also outfitted with bullet-resistant panels, officials said.
Two of the weapons, including the shotgun, were purchased by Graham last year in Ohio, officials said. One of the five firearms belonging to the killers was also fitted with a homemade silencer.
"They had a tremendous amount of firepower and a pipe bomb in the van," said Grewal. "They could have done more."
