Francine Graham and the 2019 Jersey City Kosher Market Massacre
Overview
Francine Graham was one of two attackers responsible for a deadly, antisemitic shooting rampage in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 10, 2019. Graham, 50, carried out the attack with her partner, 47-year-old David Nathaniel Anderson. Their crimes included the killing of a police detective at Bayview Cemetery and a targeted assault on the JC Kosher Supermarket, where three civilians were murdered. Graham and Anderson were killed by police after an extended gun battle that lasted for several hours.
Investigators determined that the pair deliberately selected the kosher market because of its connection to Jersey City’s Orthodox Jewish community. New Jersey authorities characterized the violence as an act of domestic terrorism motivated by antisemitism and hostility toward law enforcement. Evidence recovered after the attack suggested that Graham and Anderson possessed enough weapons, ammunition, protective equipment and explosive material to cause considerably more casualties.
Francine Graham’s Background
Francine Graham had previously lived in Jersey City and worked as a home health aide. People who had known her described a significant change in her behavior during the period before the massacre. She had become closely involved with Anderson, who promoted extremist beliefs and posted antisemitic and anti-police material online. Authorities did not identify the pair as official members of a larger organization, although their writings and statements reflected ideas associated with an extremist branch of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.
Graham and Anderson were living in a van and moving between locations before the attack. Investigators later reconstructed a series of violent incidents involving the couple during December 2019. The evidence indicated that the Jersey City massacre was not a spontaneous confrontation. The pair had accumulated firearms, large quantities of ammunition, tactical equipment and materials capable of being used in explosive devices.
December 3 Attack on a Jewish Motorist
On December 3, 2019, one week before the Jersey City massacre, someone fired two shots at a vehicle traveling along U.S. Route 1/9 near Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey. The driver was visibly identifiable as Jewish. One of the bullets shattered the vehicle’s rear window, but the motorist escaped without being killed.
Investigators later connected a firearm associated with Graham and Anderson to that shooting through ballistic evidence. Graham’s cellular telephone was also determined to have been in the area. Authorities viewed the incident as an earlier targeted act of antisemitic violence and part of the sequence of crimes leading to the December 10 attack.
The Killing of Michael Rumberger
On December 7, 2019, 34-year-old Michael Rumberger, a Jersey City resident who worked as a driver, was found fatally shot in the trunk of a Lincoln Town Car in Bayonne, New Jersey. Investigators linked Graham and Anderson to his killing through physical and forensic evidence recovered during the investigation.
Rumberger’s blood was reportedly found on a Bible belonging to the attackers, while his DNA was recovered from their clothing and from a weapon connected to them. Investigators also learned that the pair had searched online for information about the meaning of Rumberger’s surname. Authorities did not establish that Rumberger was Jewish, and his family stated that he was not. The precise motive for his killing was never fully explained because Graham and Anderson died before they could be questioned or prosecuted.
The Encounter at Bayview Cemetery
At approximately 12:20 p.m. on December 10, 2019, Jersey City Police Detective Joseph Seals encountered Graham and Anderson at Bayview Cemetery on Garfield Avenue. Seals was an experienced detective assigned to a unit that investigated illegal firearms and attempted to remove guns from the streets. He was reportedly meeting with a confidential source when he noticed the pair near a stolen U-Haul van that investigators would later connect to Rumberger’s homicide.
The encounter appears to have been unexpected. Graham and Anderson opened fire, fatally shooting Seals before fleeing in the van. A bystander discovered the wounded detective, and the shooting was reported to authorities shortly afterward. Seals’ intervention may have disrupted a broader plan and forced the attackers to begin their assault earlier than they intended.
The Attack on the JC Kosher Supermarket
After killing Detective Seals, Graham and Anderson drove approximately one mile to the JC Kosher Supermarket at 223 Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood. Surveillance footage showed the van slowing near the business before stopping directly outside. The attackers exited wearing tactical-style clothing and immediately fired toward the market.
The gunfire was directed at the kosher store rather than randomly at pedestrians or surrounding businesses. Anderson entered the market with a rifle, while Graham was armed with a shotgun. Additional handguns were also found at the scene. The pair killed three people inside the store within the opening minutes of the assault.
Store co-owner Mindy Ferencz was killed inside the business she operated with her husband. Customer Moshe Deutsch, a young rabbinical student known for charitable and community work, was also murdered. Employee Douglas Miguel Rodriguez was fatally shot while reportedly helping another person escape through the rear of the building. One wounded customer successfully fled through the back door and survived.
The Hours-Long Gun Battle
Police officers arrived rapidly after receiving reports of gunfire. Graham and Anderson fired repeatedly from inside the supermarket, beginning a prolonged confrontation with local, state and federal law-enforcement personnel. Two police officers were wounded during the exchange but survived.
The attackers maintained their position inside the market for more than three hours. Hundreds of rounds were fired during the siege, forcing nearby residents to shelter inside their homes. Schools, businesses and houses of worship were placed on lockdown. Dozens of children were inside a Jewish school next to the supermarket, creating fears that the attackers might move into the school or detonate an explosive device.
Law-enforcement officers used armored vehicles to approach the building and eventually breached the storefront. Graham and Anderson were both shot and killed during the final stages of the confrontation. The siege ended at approximately 3:45 p.m. Police then entered the heavily damaged market and discovered the bodies of the three civilian victims and the two attackers.
Weapons and Explosive Material
Investigators recovered an AR-15-style rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and multiple semiautomatic handguns associated with Graham and Anderson. The pair possessed substantial quantities of ammunition, and the U-Haul van had been reinforced with improvised ballistic material made from sections of protective body armor.
A live pipe bomb was found inside the van. Authorities said the device could have caused deaths or serious injuries over a wide area if it had detonated. Investigators also recovered components that could have been used to construct another explosive. A separate handgun equipped with a homemade suppressor and an improvised device designed to collect spent cartridge casings was connected to the earlier Bayonne homicide.
The amount of equipment suggested preparation beyond an ordinary armed robbery or impulsive shooting. Authorities believed the attackers intended to inflict mass casualties and may have considered additional targets. Detective Seals’ encounter with the pair at the cemetery likely interrupted whatever sequence they had originally planned.
Motive and Domestic-Terrorism Investigation
New Jersey investigators concluded that antisemitism and hatred of law enforcement motivated the Jersey City attack. Anderson had produced writings and online posts containing hostile statements about Jewish people and police officers. A handwritten note recovered during the investigation included extremist religious language and statements condemning law enforcement.
The deliberate choice of a kosher supermarket, the earlier shooting at a visibly Jewish motorist and the attackers’ ideological writings supported the finding that the market massacre was a targeted hate crime. Authorities described the violence as domestic terrorism but found no evidence that Graham and Anderson had acted under the direction of a recognized terrorist organization.
Although Anderson left a more extensive record of extremist statements, investigators considered Graham an active participant rather than a passive companion. She traveled with him, was connected to earlier violence, arrived at the market armed and participated in the attack and subsequent gun battle.
Victims
- Michael Rumberger, 34 — Killed on or about December 7, 2019, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His body was found inside the trunk of a Lincoln Town Car. Forensic evidence connected Graham and Anderson to his death.
- Detective Joseph A. Seals, 40 — Fatally shot on December 10, 2019, at Bayview Cemetery on Garfield Avenue in Jersey City. Seals was a Jersey City police detective, a husband and the father of five children.
- Mindy Ferencz, 31 — Killed on December 10, 2019, inside the JC Kosher Supermarket at 223 Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City. She was a co-owner of the market and the mother of three children.
- Moshe Deutsch, 24 — Killed on December 10, 2019, inside the JC Kosher Supermarket. Deutsch was a rabbinical student and community volunteer who was shopping at the market when the attack began.
- Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, 49 — Killed on December 10, 2019, inside the JC Kosher Supermarket. Rodriguez, an Ecuadorian immigrant and store employee, reportedly held open a rear exit to help another person escape.
Survivors and Injured Officers
One customer inside the supermarket was shot but escaped through a rear door and survived. Two other people were able to leave the building during the initial attack. Two police officers were wounded during the ensuing gun battle and were treated at a hospital before being released.
The location of the attack created the potential for a far greater loss of life. A Jewish school and synagogue were situated next to the market, and approximately 50 to 60 children were sheltering nearby. None of the children was physically injured.
Death of Graham and Legal Aftermath
Francine Graham and David Anderson died from police gunfire inside the supermarket on December 10, 2019. Because both attackers were killed, neither faced criminal charges or a trial. Investigators instead conducted an extensive review of their movements, electronic communications, weapons and possible connections to other people.
In November 2020, a grand jury reviewed the actions of the law-enforcement officers who fired during the siege. The grand jury concluded that the officers’ use of deadly force against Graham and Anderson was legally justified, and no criminal charges were filed against them.
Impact of the Massacre
The attack devastated Jersey City’s Jewish community and intensified national concern about antisemitic violence. Funerals and memorial services were held for Detective Seals and the three people murdered in the supermarket. Community members also honored Rodriguez for helping another customer escape despite the danger inside the store.
The massacre demonstrated how a small number of ideologically motivated offenders could prepare for a heavily armed assault without formally belonging to a larger terrorist organization. It also showed that Graham was a direct participant in the planned violence. Her actions with Anderson resulted in five victims being killed during a series of crimes between December 7 and December 10, 2019, and brought a busy Jersey City neighborhood under gunfire for several hours.
