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Jersey City Mayor: Fast Police Response Prevented Even More Deaths

The mayor of Jersey City Wednesday morning provided more information on the deadly gun battle that left six people dead, including a police officer, but declined to provide additional specifics because of an ongoing investigation by the state Attorney General's office. 

James Shea (left), Jersey City's public safety director, and Mayor Steven Fulop address reporters Wednesday

James Shea (left), Jersey City's public safety director, and Mayor Steven Fulop address reporters Wednesday

Photo Credit: Screen grab

Mayor Steve Fulop and James Shea, the director of public safety, both stressed that fast action by police officers prevented even more lives from being lost in Tuesday afternoon's violence. 

Fulop, who met with reporters near JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive, said CCTV video showed two people with guns pull up to the market and open fire on the business from the street Tuesday afternoon. 

Fulop and Shea said two officers on a walking post from a block south heard the shots and immediately responded. 

Shea also said that authorities were still piecing together the circumstances Tuesday afternoon,  but had a better idea of the sequence of events by late Tuesday night. 

Shea declined to identify the shooters and also declined to attribute a motive for the attack, citing the attorney general's investigation and state laws barring the release of information in the case of a police-involved shooting that results in death while the investigation is active. 

Fulop did say he would be consulting with school officials to discuss counseling for students, who were locked down in their school buildings as Tuesday's violence unfolded. 

Fulop also said he would be speaking to Jewish leaders. The kosher market in the Greenville section is in the heart of a growing Jewish enclave in the city. When asked if the attack was an anti-semitic hate crime, Shea said the motive was still under investigation. 

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