New Jersey shootout claims 6 lives

Six people were killed on Tuesday afternoon in Jersey City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan after two suspects shot and killed a police officer and then holed up in a supermarket. The suspects then exchanged gunfire for more than an hour with police before dying in the shootout, officials said.

The other three victims, believed to be bystanders, were pronounced dead inside the JC Kosher Supermarket.

A second police officer was shot and wounded, while two other police officers were injured by shrapnel during the lengthy firefight.

Law enforcement sources identified the dead officer as Detective Joseph Seals, 40, a longtime Jersey City police veteran and married father of five.

The standoff with police at the grocery store started about 12:30 pm and was punctuated with exchanges of gunfire that didn't stop until just before 2 pm.

"I heard this constant shooting, and it kept going on for about 15 minutes," Willy McDonald, 67, told The New York Times. "This is one of the biggest gunfights I've seen in a while. And I've been in Vietnam."

"It's like firecrackers going off," said Andy Patel, who works at a liquor store about three blocks away from the supermarket. "They were shooting like crazy.... The cops were clearing everyone off the streets."

Dozens of law enforcement officers, including local police SWAT teams, state police, FBI agents, bomb squads and an emergency services squad from the neighboring New York City Police Department, responded to the gunfight in the Greenville neighborhood of the city. With a population of about 270,000 people, Jersey City is the state's second largest. Helicopters circled overhead as police officers swarmed the streets.

The shootout began as a possible homicide investigation, local media outlets quoted senior law enforcement officials as saying.

Seals approached two male suspects in that investigation at a cemetery about a mile from the supermarket and was shot and died from his wounds, according to Police Chief Michael Kelly.

The suspects then fled the cemetery in a truck and ended up at the supermarket, where they began firing randomly through windows with high-powered rifles at anyone on the street, officials said.

Kelly said that a preliminary investigation shows the stolen U-Haul truck "may contain an incendiary device". It was taken from the location and was being examined by bomb squad members.

Twelve public schools in the vicinity of the shooting were shut down and on lockdown, according to Frank Walker, the superintendent of Jersey City public schools.

Next door to the supermarket is a small synagogue and a yeshiva, or Jewish school, Chesky Deutsch, a Hasidic Jew and community activist, told the Times. He said that up to 100 children had been trapped at the yeshiva, ranging in age from about 7 to 12. Children inside the building were on lockdown while the firefight and investigation unfolded.

There was "no indication of terrorism," an official said at a news conference.

Kelly told website nj.com that Seals worked in one of the state's busiest police precincts, with a high volume of crime.

"He's responsible for removing dozens and dozens of handguns-from the street," Kelly said.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop told the website: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Joe's family during this Christmas season and beyond. We take for granted sometimes the selfless work police officer do when they wear that uniform. In the end, they are people that volunteered to keep everyone else safe regardless of the circumstances."