KENT, Ohio — One of the deceased suspects in Tuesday's fatal Jersey City shooting has ties to Northeast Ohio.
According to the Kent Police Department, 47-year-old New Jersey native David Anderson lived in the city for two years with his girlfriend. He was arrested twice while staying in Portage County, including for domestic violence in 2009.
During the latter case, police reports state Anderson and his then-girlfriend were arguing over having a baby at her Olympus Drive home when he allegedly squeezed her face and threatened to kill her. Anderson later punched a hole in the wall before officers took him into custody, and wound up serving 30 days in the Portage County Jail after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of criminal mischief.
Two years later, Anderson was commuting back and forth between Kent and New Jersey when he was at a gathering with his girlfriend and nine other people. Police were again called to the same home for a separate domestic violence incident while Anderson was away, but after he got back officials discovered an outstanding warrant from Jersey City on weapons charges and arrested him again. His girlfriend and the Portage County Metro Housing Authority were apparently unaware of the warrant.
The Mayor of Jersey City says Anderson and a second suspect, identified as Francine Graham, shot and killed Det. Joseph Seals Tuesday before purposefully targeting a kosher supermarket in an Othodox Jewish community where a firefight ensued. Anderson and Graham both died at the scene, along with Mindy Ferencz (32), Moshe Deutsch (24), and Miguel Douglas (49).
Investigators are currently looking into a possible connection between Anderson and Graham and the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, an organization known for hatred against white people and Jews. However, Mayor Steven Fulop has so far refrained from calling the attack anti-semitic, claiming it is still too early to definitively point to a motive.