In what appeared to be a scene out of the next new action flick, brazen broad daylight shooting in Jersey City on Tuesday, New Jersey left six people dead, including three civilians, one police officer and two of the alleged gunmen.
The officer, Detective Joseph Seals, was a 15 year veteran of the force and was in charge of an anti-crime unit whose purpose was to get guns off of the street.
The details are still unclear as to what led to the shootout, but according to a law enforcement source, it is believed that Seals was ambushed.
Three other people were struck by gunfire two officers and one civilian, all of whom are in stable condition.
The shooting began shortly after 12 noon EST on Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City, with police from other areas and jurisdictions, from New York Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit to ATF to come to the aid of the Jersey City Police Dept. With schools on lockdown and public transportation in the area suspended, the area on MLK Drive where the shooting was happening was lined with onlookers recording the meleé.
The actual shooting between the gunmen and the police continued for hours during a long standoff in a bodega where it is reported that the three civilians were killed. The entire ordeal was over when it was reported by law enforcement that the suspects had been killed in another part of town.
With little to go on due to the death of Detective Seals and the death of the alleged suspects, the investigation into what actually started the deadly shooting is ongoing. The police have, however, ruled out the possibility of terrorism.
TheSource.com will update this story as it develops.