Joshua Rosario
NJ Advance Media Group
JERSEY CITY — Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop put the day-to-day, life-on-the-line mentality police officers must have in the simplest of terms Wednesday afternoon.
When gunshots ring out and people are running away, his police officers are “running immediately toward” the gunfire.
The mayor was speaking in particular about police officers Kendric Jackson, Mariela Fernandez and Raymond Sanchez, who were promoted to the rank of detective in a City Hall ceremony for their bravery in the mass shooting Dec. 10 that left six people, including the two shooters, dead.
Fulop said they were three of first four officers to respond to the shooting and pinned David Anderson and Francine Graham in a kosher store on Martin Luther King Drive, stopping them from killing more people.
When you look at the footage of how the officers responded, “you see bravery, you see heroism and you see them hearing gunshots and running immediately toward them,” Fulop said.
“I think it’s safe to say had they not done what they did that day it would’ve been a far worse disaster on Dec. 10,” Fulop said.
The fourth officer who was among the first on the scene is Sgt. Majorie Jordan, who risked her life to assist Sanchez, who had been shot in the shoulder.
Det. Joseph Seals and three people inside a kosher supermarket were murdered by Anderson and Graham in an act authorities said was driven by anti-Semitism and anti-police views.
Authorities have said that the tragedy would have been far worse if not for Detective Joseph Seals, the first person fatally shot by the pair, and the quick response of other police officers.
Fernandez also suffered a gunshot wound.
William Munoz, Sanchez’s roommate and best friend since they were 13 years old, said it was a relief knowing his friend made it out OK after being shot.
“It was a crazy day in the city, living with him, and dealing with that every day seeing him,” Munoz said. “It’s tough to see that, but he’s doing well, which is great.”
Fernandez’s brother in law, Jimmy Fernandez, said the ceremony was monumental and uplifting.
“It turns a negative experience to something positive … we are here to celebrate the bravery and courage Mariela had,” Jimmy said.