At least four people have been killed during a shootout inside a Kosher supermarket in New Jersey, including one police officer and three civilians, according to an NBC report Tuesday. Law enforcement official said the two suspects have also been killed.
According to unconfirmed local reports the three customers killed inside the Jersey City supermarket are believed to be ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Police officials say the incident begun as a homicide investigation and it's unlikely it was racially motivated. Local residents say the area is known for criminal activity.
According to the report, the police officer who was killed had been shot in the head. He was a 39-year-old father of five.
The shooting appeared to have occurred in the area of Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
SWAT teams and federal agents responded to the scene, and police blocked off the major thoroughfare where the shooting occurred. The area has a Catholic school, some stories, a Kosher supermarket and a hair stylist. Phones rang unanswered at several businesses. The Catholic parish, Sacred Heart, has closed, and no one answered at its associated school, which runs from preschool through eighth grade.
Police tactical teams were going through the school, which remained on lockdown, according to scanner traffic.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring it.
Video images show a line of police officers armed with weapons pointed in several directions walking down the sidewalk. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was responding.
Dozens of bystanders pressed against the police barrier to film the action on cellphones, some whooping when gunfire bursts filled the air.
Andy Patel works at a liquor store about three blocks away from the site of the shooting site and said there had been consistent gunfire fire about an hour on Tuesday afternoon.
“I could hear the gunshots. It's like firecrackers going off. They were shooting like crazy about an hour ago. Then it stopped for like 20 or 30 minutes. The cops were clearing everyone off the streets,” said Patel.