A bigger tragedy may have been averted.

Authorities found devices they described as “pipe bombs” in the U-Haul rental van that was used by the two shooters who shot two police officers and terrorized a Jersey City neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Using closed-circuit surveillance camera footage, police determined that the shooters, a man and a woman, parked the van on Martin Luther King Drive and entered the JC Kosher Supermarket at 223 MLK.

The shooters remained in the store, keeping police at bay by firing in the direction of anyone they saw. Two police officers have been shot, including one at Bayview Cemetery, where it is believed the active shooter situation started.

There is a yeshiva and synagogue on the same block and a Catholic school across the street.