JERSEY CITY – Authorities said the pair who led a murderous anti-Semitic hate crime last month planned "greater acts of mayhem" on Jewish people and law enforcement, authorities said Monday – including making a bomb that could have killed or injured many.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said one of the shooters, David Anderson , wrote anti-Semitic posts on social media referring to Jewish people as "imposters who inhabit synagogues of Satan" and referenced "wicked Israelites who love darkness as cover for their wickedness," according to The Asbury Park Press.

The pair had a bomb in their van could have injured or killed people as far as five football fields away, NBC4 New York reported authorities as saying. They also also had enough material to make a second bomb, according to the report.

The suspects who were killed last month were Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, according to Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. The attorney general said the two were the primary suspects in a Bayonne murder in December, and Anderson held anti-Semitic and anti-law enforcement beliefs. Read more: Man Found Beaten To Death In Car Trunk In Bayonne

"This was nothing but a senseless, evil, cowardly act of anti-Semitism and hatred toward not just the Jewish community, but also law enforcement," Carpentio said, according to The Press.

A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family of the officer, receiving more than $315,000 worth of donations in a single day. Read more: Fundraisers For Jersey City Shooting Victims Raise $315K In A Day

Services were also held for Detective Joseph Seals, 39, a married father of five, who was killed by the suspects in Bayview Cemetery on Garfield Avenue prior to the shootings at the grocery, according to Jersey City Police Chief Mike Kelly. Read more: Cop Killed In Jersey City Standoff: A Hero Before; A Hero Now

Other police officers were wounded in the attack. Sgt. Majorie Jordan, one of the officers on the scene, is being hailed as a hero after selflessly risking her life to rescue an injured co-worker. Read more: Jersey City Cop Rushes Into Deadly Shootout To Aid Fellow Officer

Moshe Hersh Deutsch, 24, of Brooklyn and Leah Mindel Ferencz, 32, who owned the kosher grocery store with her husband, were identified as two of the civilian victims. Grewal said two of the victims were Orthodox Jews, but he didn't say which ones.

Gov. Phil Murphy said the attack is a signal to "come together as the broad New Jersey family we are and recommit to the elimination of hate in all its forms" and "we cannot wait until another domestic terrorist, filled with hate and bent on murder, gets their hands on a weapon, period."

Miguel Jason Rodriguez, 49, of Jersey City, who emigrated from Ecuador three years ago, was also killed, Grewal said. One person who was inside the store managed to escape and survive; that person wasn't identified.

"It now appears from law enforcement that the events that terrorized Jersey City on Tuesday were fueled by hate," Murphy said. "The murder of innocent civilians because of their religious beliefs, and the murder of a police officer for the simple reason that he was a police officer, must be the wakeup call to those who fail to see or acknowledge the rising tide of hate here in New Jersey, and around the nation."

FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Ehrie said his agency will "continue to investigate this as a domestic terrorism incident with a hate-crime bias, slant to it." Grewal and Carpenito echoed those remarks during a December press conference.



"Our thoughts again are with the victims and the survivors of this senseless incident," Ehrie said, adding that authorities believe the two suspects acted alone. "All our efforts are to bring them (the families of the victims) some measure of justice."

Grewal said the two shooting suspects held views that reflected "hatred of Jewish people as well as hated of law enforcement," but were acting on their own.

"The evidence points toward acts of hate," he said. "We are investigating this matter as potential acts of domestic terrorism fueled both by acts of anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs."

The New York Times revealed that one of the suspects published anti-Semitic and anti-police posts online. Anderson also appeared to have a connection to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, a law enforcement official told The Times, which has been called a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center but has no connection to mainstream Judaism.

Read more: Long Criminal History Of Shooting Suspect In Jersey City Killings

Grewal, however, said both suspects expressed interest in the group, but the authorities have not established direct links.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop also called the fatal shootings a hate crime, saying any description short of that is a "disservice to Judaism."



After extensive review of the city's video system, Fulop said it's "now become clear from the cameras that these two individuals targeted the kosher grocery location."

Officials said they're basing their determination on this: The shooters took a truck to the kosher grocery, left it, bypassed other people in front of the store and immediately attacked location with their long guns.

"Based on our initial investigation (which is ongoing), we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked," Fulop said. "Due to an excess of caution, the community may see additional police resources in the days/weeks ahead. We have no indication there are any further threats."

Fulop also said on Twitter: "I'm Jewish and proud to live in a community like #JerseyCity that has always welcomed everyone. It is the home of #EllisIsland and has always been the golden door to America. Hate and anti-Semitism have never had a place here in JC and will never have a place in our city."

Several areas of New Jersey later took steps to protect Jewish residents, providing extra patrols in a number of neighborhoods.

Related:

Incident began as a possible homicide investigation in Bayview Cemetery



The incident started at Bayview Cemetery just after noon on Dec. 10 and was possibly related to the ongoing Bayonne homicide investigation, Kelly said. Seals saw a U-Haul truck possibly linked to the murder, Kelly said.

As Seals approached the truck, one of the suspects got out of the car and shot him. Seals was shot once in the back of the head, behind the ear, police said. He died at the Jersey City Medical Center.

From the cemetery, the two suspects drove to the Jersey City Kosher Supermarket at 223 Martin Luther King Drive. They arrived at the grocery store in the stolen U-Haul van, wearing all black and carrying long guns. A pipe bomb was found in the stolen U-Haul, Grewal said.

The truck was driven by Anderson, who parked across the street from the grocery store, which was about a mile away from the cemetery, Grewal said. Anderson exited the driver-side door and immediately began shooting with an AR-15.

Graham followed him into the grocery store, carrying a shotgun, where they found four people. They killed three of them – Deutsch, Ferencz and Rodriguez – almost immediately while another escaped, Grewal said. The suspects shot at that person during the escape.

This is Moshe Deutsch. He is one of the victims of the #JerseyCity #shooting attack. He is from Brooklyn and is the son of a prominent Jewish leader in the Williamsburg community. Those who knew him said he was always volunteering. : Chai Lifeline pic.twitter.com/8mpZLl6OQw

— Asha McKenzie (@AMcKenzie_News) December 11, 2019

The shooting suspects holed up inside the store, where they continued firing at officers – but no one else – for hours, Grewal said.



As soon as police arrived at the grocery store, they were immediately met with "high-powered rifle gun fire," Kelly said. "At that time, we were learning that we had another officer down on Garfield Avenue. That was Detective Joseph Seals."

The standoff started at about 12:38 p.m., and it wasn't until shortly after 3:25 p.m. that the two shooters had been taken down by police. It was at that time, Grewal said, that an armored police vehicle broke through the entry way of the grocery store.

"We took gunfire for hours," Kelly said. "Our officers were under gunfire for hours."



Several shots fired pic.twitter.com/FyknpxCqwG

— Keldy Ortiz (@KeldyOrtiz) December 10, 2019

SOUND ON: Jersey City sounds like a war zone; ALL schools on lockdown, police tell media to leave the area - https://t.co/AIGMupF1k7 pic.twitter.com/6wvtJYNaYc

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 10, 2019

Two other officers, Mariela Fernandez and Ray Sanchez, were hit by gunfire, he said. All are expected to recover.



At Jersey City Medical Center with my son Joe... he's okay by Prayers for the Jersey City Police and their fallen officer.

— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) December 10, 2019

"(Seals) gave his life," Fulop said. "Another officer was shot in the shoulder. And two officers are receiving medical treatment due to shrapnel."



For a nearly three-hour span, bullets could be heard echoing across MLK Drive; all city schools were on lockdown, and police were telling people in the Greenville section of the city to get inside and off the streets.

The shooters fired at anyone they saw, including firing shots at the nearby Sacred Heart School, a private Catholic elementary school on Bayview Avenue, police said.

Police eventually sent a robot inside the grocery store, where they found the bodies of the two shooters and three civilians. Police think the three civilians inside the store had been killed by the shooters, Kelly said.

When asked by a reporter, the mayor said this does not appear to be an incident of terrorism.



A barrage of gunfire can be heard in this video:



President Trump, governor issue statements



The shootout in Jersey City was so serious that President Trump and Murphy were briefed.

"I have been briefed on the unfolding situation in Jersey City," said Murphy said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the men and women of the Jersey City Police Department, especially with the officers shot during this standoff, and with the residents and schoolchildren currently under lockdown."

Every school in the Jersey City public school district was placed on lockdown, and all public school students were safe, the mayor said.



"All students and staff are safe; however every school is on lockdown," the Jersey City school district tweeted. Bayonne public schools are also on lockdown, the Bayonne Board of Education tweeted.

Both Jersey City exit ramps on the New Jersey Turnpike and 14B - Liberty State Park were closed to traffic. NJ Transit also suspended light rail service in that area.

Breaking: @ATF_Newark Agents responding to reports of an active shooter in Jersey City, NJ. pic.twitter.com/lC48sne5ov

— ATF Newark (@ATF_Newark) December 10, 2019

Just received a briefing on the horrific shootout that took place in Jersey City, NJ. Our thoughts & prayers are w/ the victims & their families during this very difficult & tragic time. We will continue to monitor the situation as we assist local & state officials on the ground.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019

"I have every confidence in our law enforcement professionals to ensure the safety of the community and resolve this situation," Murphy said. "Today reminds us of their bravery and the sacrifices they, and their families, make for our communities."



Carly Baldwin and Eric Kiefer reported for this story

