Thousands gather at funeral for detective killed in Jersey City shooting


Thousands gather at funeral for detective killed in Jersey City shooting

See all the photos from the funeral here.

They came by the thousands — officers from every police department in New Jersey, from Baltimore, Philadelphia and Delaware, among other states. The patrol vehicles lined Montgomery Street, their blue and red lights flashing, brightening what was a dark and dreary day in more ways than just the weather.

They converged, with black stripes over their badges and white gloves tucked in their left shoulder, on St. Aedan’s Church on Bergen Avenue Tuesday to mourn the death of Detective Joseph Seals, described in his obituary as “one of the hardest-working men and one of the most instinctive cops on the job.”

Before the Mass began, Seals’ family took shelter on the street under three large black umbrellas as his casket, cloaked in an American flag, was taken out of the hearse. The casket was escorted into the church by eight Jersey City police officers — including two of his closest friends in the department, Robert Dunn and Edward Redmond — as an army of color guard officers from around the state stood stoically at attention, unfazed by the heavy rain. The sound of bagpipes and drums echoed through the streets, which were at a standstill shortly before 11 a.m.

Inside, it was a “sea of blue and total sadness,” said Ted White, who attended the service. White, 61, is a lifelong Jersey City resident and his son is a police officer for the city.

“It was most touching when the children got up to talk,” he said. “His young son, they put him on a pedestal to speak. He looked 9-feet-tall. God bless the little guy.”

Outside the Mass, Glenn Gualtieri, who worked with Seals in the Southern District before his retirement in August, said his “heart broke” when he learned of Seals’ death.

“I just broke down,” he said. “He had a really good sense of humor. He loved his family.”

When asked what Seals was like as a cop, Gualtieri said, “Joe just did it in an unassuming way and he had a good temperament.”

A week ago, Seals, a 14-year member of the Jersey City Police Department, was fatally shot in the Bayview Cemetery after he encountered David Anderson and Francine Graham in a U-Haul truck. The 40-year-old devoted father of five became Jersey City’s 35th officer to die in the line of duty.

Funeral set for Detective Joseph Seals

Photo provided

Detective Joseph Seals

A Bayonne native, Seals graduated from high school there in 1997, before joining the Hudson County Corrections Department in 2001.

“He followed his dreams. He wanted to be a police officer. It was all he’s ever wanted to do and he accomplished it,” his mother, Deborah Perruzza, told Fox News. “Everyone loved him. He was a fair cop. He helped people.”

Seals joined the Jersey City Police Department in 2005. On the streets, Seals, who was promoted to detective in 2017 and joined the force’s Cease Fire Unit, worked out of the South District precinct in the Greenville section of Jersey City. It’s a high-crime area and Seals had a knack for sniffing out guns.

“He was the leading police officer in removing guns from the street,” Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly told reporters in a press conference after the shooting. “Dozens and dozens of handguns, he’s responsible for removing from the street.”

The Cease Fire Unit, formed in 2013, is an elite team of detectives mainly tasked with investigating non-fatal shootings. Its members are known to have deep contacts on the street.

funeral service for Jersey City Det. Joseph Seals

Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media

Det. Seals widow, Laura Seals, holds the flag that was draped on his casket at the end of the funeral service. The funeral service for Jersey City Det. Joseph Seals at St. Aedan’s Church. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media)

On Dec. 10, Seals was apparently meeting with an informant for a guns or narcotics case in the cemetery, according to multiple reports.

Few details of the incident have been made public, but law enforcement sources told NJ Advance Media Seals was shot point-blank in the back of the head, behind the ear. It is not known what time he was killed, but police received a 911 call at 12:38 p.m. from a passer-by who found his lifeless body in the cemetery, authorities said.

By that time, the first shots from Anderson, 47, and Graham, 50, were reported to the police. After killing Seals, the two assailants drove their U-Haul truck about a mile to a kosher grocery store, where they killed three civilians — Leah Minda Ferencz, 33, Moshe Hirsch Deutsch, 24, and Douglas Miguel Rodriguez Barzola, 49. Anderson and Graham were also killed during a nearly four-hour standoff with police that turned the city streets into a war zone.

Authorities have called the attack an act of domestic terrorism aimed at Jews and law enforcement.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, police officers outside St. Aedan’s Church raised their hands in a final salute as bagpipers began to play and drummers tapped in unison. Four rifle shots were fired. A bugler played “Taps” as Seals’ casket was driven away in a hearse.

About 2 miles away from the church, a Secaucus police cruiser sat out front of the now boarded-up Jersey City Kosher Supermarket.

Mary Bumarsee was waiting for the No. 87 NJ Transit bus to work across the street. She lives in an apartment in a four-story brick building at the corner of Bidwell Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, in sight of the grocery store. She passes it every day before her commute to her job as a health care assistant.

“This makes me feel bad, this makes me feel upset,” she said. “These people, they don’t bother anybody.”

Inside the neighboring synagogue, Chabad of Bayonne Rabbi Yisrael Bennish and others engaged in prayer.

“These are men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day,” Bennish said of police officers. “It’s important that we respect them and remember them.”

funeral service for Jersey City Det. Joseph Seals

Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media

Gov. Murphy and others watch as the casket of Det. Seals is brought to the church. The funeral service for Jersey City Det. Joseph Seals at St. Aedan’s Church. Seals was killed in the line of duty last week during the shootings in Jersey City. Tuesday, December 17, 2019. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media)

NJ Advance Media staff reporter Alex Napoliello contributed to this report.

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Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

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