400 Rounds of Ammunition Found at Pawnshop Connected to N.J. Killings

The note, which police found during their investigation, led them to a pawnshop almost 40 miles south of Jersey City, the site of the shooting. Friday evening, they searched the store and found 10 guns and more than 400 rounds of ammunition. The shop’s owner, Ahmed A-Hady, 35, was arrested early Saturday morning on criminal weapons charges, federal authorities said.

Later Saturday, according to officials, federal authorities recovered a white van 11 miles from Jersey City, which they believe may be connected to Anderson and his girlfriend, Francine Graham, who participated in the attack.

The developments came as New Jersey residents continued to grapple with the deadly rampage last week that left four people dead and turned a quiet city street into the scene of a prolonged firefight.

The attack began Tuesday morning, when Anderson, 47, and Graham, 50, killed a Jersey City police detective who had approached a U-Haul van that the couple had been driving.

After shooting the officer, Detective Joseph Seals, in a cemetery, the couple drove to the JC Kosher Supermarket, where they unleashed a fusillade, killing one of the store owners, an employee and a customer.

A gunbattle ensued between the couple and law enforcement officers from Jersey City, New York City, the New Jersey State Police and the FBI. At around 3:25 p.m., a police armored vehicle rammed into the front of the store. After more gunfire, Anderson and Graham were dead.

Officials have determined that Anderson and Graham, followers of the ideology of the Black Hebrew Israelites, an extremist sect that espouses anti-Semitism, had targeted the market. FBI officials have called the attack an act of domestic terrorism.

Officials have not yet said what connection the pawnshop owner, A-Hady, who the authorities said was convicted in 2012 of trying to obtain a controlled dangerous substance, had to the shooting, other than that his address in Keyport, New Jersey, and phone number were on Anderson’s note.

The search Friday night of A-Hady’s pawnshop, Buy n Sell City in Keyport, and home yielded six rifles, three handguns and one shotgun, in addition to the ammunition rounds, including hollow point bullets, authorities said. Three of the weapons were AR-15 style assault rifles, the same type of firearm used in the mass shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a concert in Las Vegas and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As a result of his 2012 conviction, A-Hady was not permitted to have weapons.

He is expected to appear in federal court Monday.

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Over the past week, community members have mourned three victims of the attack: Leah Mindel Ferencz, who co-owned the deli with her husband; Moshe Deutsch, a 24-year-old rabbinical student; and Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, an employee. A wake will be held for Detective Seals Monday in Jersey City.

The services have reflected the anger and anguish that swept through Jersey City in the aftermath of the attack. But speaking to mourners at a funeral home Saturday evening, Rodriguez’s wife, Martha Freire Carrasco, offered compassion.

“I forgave who did this to my husband,” she said. “I forgave them because if I have hate in my heart, this, what I’m going through, would be worse.”

An immigrant from Ecuador, Rodriguez has been described by friends and family as a hard worker who was devoted to his daughter. He knew his customers by name and would memorize their children’s favorite snacks so he could place an order before the shop ran out of them, Freire said.

“I love my father with all my heart and I miss him,” said Amy Rodriguez, his 11-year-old daughter told the mourners. “I want to thank God for all the years he gave me with him. I will always have you in my heart.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .