Judge Salas' son Daniel told mom 'I love talking to you' right before he was shot dead by 'monster' gunman
New Jersey federal Judge Esther Salas has said her son died trying to protect his father when a gunman opened fire at their home two weeks ago.
Salas revealed in a recorded message released Monday how the shooting claimed the life of her son Daniel Anderl just a day after he celebrated his 20th birthday, which saw family host a party for some of Daniel's friends from the Catholic University of America.
The family was cleaning up from the festivities when it was ambushed by so-called “anti-feminist” lawyer Roy Den Hollander, 72.
“Daniel and I went downstairs to the basement and we were chatting, as we always do,” Salas recalled. “And Daniel said, ‘Mom, let’s keep talking, I love talking to you, Mom.’ It was at that exact moment that the doorbell rang, and Daniel looked at me and said, ‘Who is that?’”
“And before I could say a word, he sprinted upstairs,” she continued. “Within seconds, I heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming, ‘No!’”
“I later learned that this monster, who had a FedEx package in his hand, opened fire, but Daniel being Daniel, protected his father and he took the shooter’s first bullet directly to the chest,” the judge added. “The monster then turned his attention to my husband and began to shoot at my husband, one shot after another."
According to her, Mark "was shot three times: one bullet entered his right chest, the other his left abdomen, and the last one in the right forearm.”
Den Hollander, who posed as a FedEx driver during the July 19 attack, was described by Salas as “a madman, who I believe was targeting me because of my position as a federal judge.”
It later emerged that the suspect had targeted Salas for moving "moving too slowly with his lawsuit that claimed that the military draft’s exclusion of women was unfair to men," the New York Post reported.
Salas said the tragic incident should serve as an alarm that federal judges need more security and "should be afforded more privacy around their personal lives."
“My son’s death cannot be in vain, which is why I am begging those in power to do something to help my brothers and sisters on the bench,” she said. “Now, more than ever, we need to identify a solution that keeps the lives of federal judges private. I know this is a complicated issue, and I don’t pretend to know or have all answers, but together we can find a way.”
Salas said her husband Mark Anderl, who was also wounded in the ambush, is still recuperating at the hospital.
Meanwhile, she added, “we are living every parent’s worst nightmare — making preparations to bury our only child."
“My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure,” Salas concluded. “And I am here asking everyone to help me ensure that no one ever has to experience this kind of pain. We may not be able to stop something like this from happening again, but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us down.”