Keyport man charged in connection to Jersey City shooting

Erik Larsen | Asbury Park Press

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KEYPORT – A borough man has been charged in connection to Tuesday’s mass shooting in Jersey City that left a total of six people dead, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.

Ahmed Hady, 35, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Hady was arrested by FBI agents early Saturday morning.

He is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in U.S. District Court in Newark on Monday morning, Carpenito said in a prepared statement.

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The weapon was found, along with a number of other weapons and ammunition, after the FBI searched a pawnshop and home in Keyport that Carpenito said is connected to one of the perpetrators of the Jersey City attacks. The address of the pawnshop was not identified in the statement from Carpenito, which was released to the media at 11 p.m. Saturday.

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The two shooters — identified as David N. Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, both of whom were killed in a gun battle with police — opened fire and killed three bystanders at a kosher grocery store after first murdering a Jersey City police detective around noon at a cemetery about a mile away.

In the aftermath of the shooting and subsequent investigation, a handwritten note was recovered from Anderson's right back pants’ pocket. The note contained a telephone number ending in 4115, as well as a Keyport address. Weapons recovered at the scene that had been carried by the two assailants included an AR-15 rifle, Carpenito said.

The address listed on the note was for the pawnshop in Keyport. Moreover, FBI agents determined that the phone number belonged to Hady, he said.

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Records were obtained of Hady’s history of firearm purchases. Those records indicated that on May 23, 2007, Hady purchased a Smith and Wesson .45 caliber handgun. Records also indicated that on June 2, 2007, Hady purchased a Smith and Wesson .44 caliber handgun, Carpenito said.

Five years after he purchased the weapons on April 2, 2012, A-Hady was convicted in state Superior Court in Freehold of attempting to obtain drugs by fraud, a crime punishable by more than one year in state prison. As a result of that conviction, A-Hady was no longer eligible to possess a firearm, Carpenito said.

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On Friday night, law enforcement officers traveled to the pawnshop and interviewed Hady and two of his family members. During the course of that interview, Hady admitted to still owning both the .45 caliber and the .44 caliber, but he falsely denied that they were on the premises, Carpenito said.

After Hady was interviewed, one of his relatives told law enforcement officials that there was a safe located inside the pawnshop. The same family member also revealed that the safe contained firearms, including Hady’s .44 and .45 caliber handguns, Carpenito said.

That relative then consented to a search of the safe. Agents recovered three firearms: a PK 380, a Ruger 9mm, and a Smith and Wesson .44 caliber handgun, according to the statement.

Investigators then searched both the pawnshop and Hady’s private residence. During the search of the pawnshop, law enforcement recovered six rifles — including three AR-15-style assault rifles, three handguns and one shotgun. In addition, during the searches of the pawnshop and Hady’s private residence, law enforcement recovered more than 400 rounds of ammunition, including “a large number” of hollow point bullets, Carpenito said.

The charge of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The nature of Hady’s relationship to the shooters was not disclosed Saturday night.

Jersey City Police Detective Joseph Seals, 40, Leah Minda Ferencz, 31, Moshe Hirsch Deutsch, 24, and Douglas Miguel Rodriguez Barzola, 49, were all killed in the attack.

Carpenito credited the development in the investigation to special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson in Newark; the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, under the direction of Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal; and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan, Carpenito said in the statement.

The U.S. Attorney also praised the work of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Prosecutor Esther Suarez, and the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Director James Shea.

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The government is represented by Ronnell Wilson, Chief of the National Security Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean C. Sovolos and Thomas S. Kearney, also of the National Security Unit.

This is a breaking news story. Stay with app.com for updates.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com