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Jersey City Shooting Leaves Officer Shot In Head

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A quiet Tuesday afternoon in Jersey City turned into an hours-long gun battle that left six people dead, including a decorated police detective.

Just after 12:30 p.m. on December 10, 2019, what began as a routine approach to a stolen U-Haul van at Bayview Cemetery exploded into one of the deadliest shootouts in Jersey City’s history. Detective Joseph Seals, a 13-year veteran of the force, was gunned down by two suspects tied to a Bayonne homicide investigation, who then drove roughly a mile to the JC Kosher Supermarket and opened fire on responding officers in a siege that stretched for hours.

• Detective Joseph Seals, 40, a father of five and 13-year Jersey City PD veteran, was killed after approaching two suspects in a stolen U-Haul linked to a Bayonne homicide probe.
• The gunmen fled to the JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive near Bidwell Avenue in Greenville, where they exchanged gunfire with tactical units for hours, wounding two more officers and one civilian.
• By late afternoon, authorities confirmed six total dead — Seals, three civilians inside the market, and both suspects — with pipe bombs and additional weapons recovered from the suspects’ van.

Bayview Cemetery Ambush Initiation

Detective Seals wasn’t responding to a random call — he was working a lead. Investigators say he approached the two suspects because their U-Haul van matched one connected to a recent homicide in neighboring Bayonne. Instead of a routine stop, Seals was met with gunfire and killed at the scene. The suspects then sped roughly a mile away toward the Greenville section of the city, setting up the second, far bloodier phase of the day.

The Siege at JC Kosher Supermarket

Armed with long guns and wearing tactical gear, the two suspects entered the grocery store on Martin Luther King Drive near Bidwell Avenue and began firing on arriving officers. What followed was an hours-long standoff that drew tactical teams, the FBI, ATF, Port Authority police, and departments from surrounding towns. Gunfire repeatedly struck nearby buildings, including Sacred Heart School, forcing lockdowns at more than a dozen schools in the neighborhood as parents scrambled for information on their children’s safety.

Two additional officers and one civilian suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds during the exchange, adding to the toll from Seals’ killing at the cemetery. MSNBC’s live coverage captured the scene as it unfolded, describing an officer shot in the head and a chaotic, evolving picture on the ground before authorities could confirm details.

Tactical units breached the supermarket to find both suspects and three victims dead inside — pushing the day’s death toll to six.

Pipe Bombs and a Targeted Attack

When investigators searched the suspects’ U-Haul van, they discovered pipe bombs along with additional weapons, details that pushed officials toward describing the rampage as a targeted attack rather than a random act. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Hudson County authorities confirmed by late afternoon that the shooter threat had been neutralized, closing out a siege that had locked down an entire section of the city for hours.

The scale of the response — FBI, ATF, Port Authority police, and local departments converging on a single city block — underscored how quickly a lead on a stolen van tied to a Bayonne homicide turned into a citywide emergency. Coverage of the unfolding standoff echoed other recent flashpoints around law enforcement and public safety that have drawn national attention, including incidents detailed in NYPD precinct commander quits in protest over lack of support from officials and Entire Portland riot squad resigns after officer’s indictment.

The Toll

By the time tactical units breached the supermarket, six people were confirmed dead: Detective Seals, three civilians inside the store, and the two suspects. Two officers and a civilian bystander were left with non-fatal gunshot wounds, and a dozen-plus schools spent the afternoon on lockdown while the standoff played out less than a mile from where it started.

Fulop and Hudson County officials made clear the immediate threat had ended by late Tuesday afternoon, but the investigation into what led two armed suspects from a Bayonne homicide case to a kosher grocery store in Greenville was only beginning.