Grand jury clears cops in shooting that ended deadly anti-Semitic attack in Jersey City

A state grand jury has cleared 13 police officers who fatally shot the armed couple responsible for a 2019 killing spree at a kosher deli in Jersey City, the state Attorney General’s office announced Wednesday.

David N. Anderson and Francine Graham gunned down a Jersey City detective at the Bayview Cemetery on Dec 10, 2019, before driving a mile to the JC Kosher Supermarket, where they killed the store’s owner, an employee, and a customer. The couple’s ensuing three-hour firefight with police ended only after officers rammed the storefront with an armored vehicle and shot them dead.

The attack was widely condemned as an anti-Semitic hate crime and act of domestic terrorism.

Killed were Detective Joseph Seals; store owner Mindy Ferencz, 31; employee Douglas Miguel Rodriguez Barzola, 49; and customer Moshe Deutsch, 24. Two other police officers also were shot but survived.

By state law, the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability investigates all fatal police encounters and presents their findings to a grand jury.

On Monday, jurors determined the actions of the 12 Jersey City officers and one Newark police detective who shot Anderson and Graham were justified and no charges are warranted against them. State law permits officers to use deadly force if they reasonably believe it’s necessary to protect themselves or others from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm.