Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals was meeting with a confidential informant at Bayview Cemetery before his fatal encounter with a man and woman who carried out a mass shooting a short time later, according to a report.
PIX11-TV reported Friday that a senior law enforcement source told them Seals was meeting with an informant for a guns or narcotics case. The source also said the meeting was not connected to David Anderson and Francine Graham, who shot and killed Seals when he approached their U-Haul van, which had been reported stolen.
Seals was the first of four people shot and killed in connection with the suspected hate crime that continued when Anderson and Graham drove to JC Kosher Supermarket.
Armed with an AR-15-style weapon, a 12-gauge shotgun and other firearms, authorities said, they killed three people at the market.
Anderson and Graham were killed by police after a four-hour gun battle.
Seals, who lived in North Arlington, was promoted to detective in 2017 and had been working in the city’s Cease Fire Unit. He was hailed as a hero in 2008 when he and his partner broke through an apartment window to tackle and arrest a man who was sexually assaulting a woman.
A GoFundMe account set up for the officer’s family reached more than $450,000 on Saturday morning. His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday.
Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook
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