Police arrest pawn shop owner possibly linked to Jersey City shootout

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Police arrest pawn shop owner believed linked to Jersey City gunmen
Diana Rocco has the latest on the fatal shootout in Jersey City

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey -- Police have arrested a pawnshop owner from Monmouth County who may be linked to the suspected gunmen in the Jersey City shootout.

Ahmed A-Hady, 35, of Keyport was found in possession of 10 illegal guns and 400 rounds of ammunition.

Afterward the shootout, a note was found in the male shooter's pocket containing a telephone number and a Keyport address, according to authorities.

The number belonged to A-Hady, and the address was for a storefront for a pawn shop, officials said. Records indicated that A-Hady had bought two handguns in 2007 before being convicted of a felony in 2012 that made him ineligible to own firearms.

Meanwhile the FBI has recovered the white van authorities believe the two suspects in Tuesday's shooting were living in after getting evicted from their apartment.

RELATED: Jersey City officials say kosher deli shooting may be targeted

The van was recovered Saturday morning in Orange, NJ, and the FBI is examining it for any evidence.

The van reportedly matches the description of a van linked to the Jersey City suspects.

Law enforcement says a white 2001 Ford van with license plate number B40JSD belonged to 47-year-old David Anderson, and that he and the other Jersey City shooting suspect, 50-year-old Francine Graham, were living in it after they were evicted from their Elizabeth townhome.

It was found parked in a small lot at a Firestone on Central Avenue in Orange.

Anderson and Graham are believed to be members of the fringe group called the Black Hebrew Israelites. Authorities say they went on a shooting rampage, killing Police Officer Joseph Seals and 3 people in a Jewish grocery store then taking their own life.

Saturday night family members remembered 49-year-old Douglas Rodriguez, a worker in the kosher grocery store and an Ecuadorian immigrant, who was able to let one person out of the store before he was killed.

Detective Seals was a veteran of the Jersey City Police department and 40-year-old father of 5 children.

Related: What we know about Detective Joseph Seals

He will be laid to rest on Tuesday.

The Tuesday, December 10th incident began at the Bay View Cemetery, where Seals was fatally shot and another officer wounded in the shoulder.

Officials say Anderson and Graham then drove a U-Haul about a mile to a kosher supermarket, parking across the street and exiting the vehicle with guns drawn. They immediately began firing, shooting four people inside, one of whom managed to flee from the scene.

Officers in the area quickly arrived on scene, trapping the two suspects inside. A lengthy gun battle then commenced.

In the end, six people lost their lives including the two suspects and Dectective Seals. The other people killed have been identified as 24-year-old Moshe Deutsch, 49-year-old Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, and 31-year-old Mindy Ferencz.