Judge Salas and her husband are 'living every parent's worst nightmare' as they prepare to bury gunned down son
The federal judge, whose son was killed and husband was hurt following a shooting at their New Jersey home late last month, has opened up about the incident and revealed the former's last words.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported how a gunman posing as a FedEx driver had arrived at the home of Esther Salas, an Obama-appointed District Court Judge in North Brunswick, on July 19th and shot her son, Daniel Anderl, 20, and her defense attorney husband Mark Anderl, 63. The attack unfolded on Daniel's 20th birthday, with North Brunswick Mayor Francis 'Mac' Womack, revealing that he had been "shot through the heart" and died shortly after. Mark was seriously injured as well but survived following multiple surgeries.
In an emotionally-charged video posted on YouTube on Monday, August 3, Salas talked about the fateful day. "While my husband is still in the hospital recovering from his multiple surgeries, we are living every parent's worst nightmare," she said. "Making preparations to bury, bury our only child, Daniel."
She recalled how they had just finished celebrating Daniel's birthday with friends from Catholic University, where he was a junior, when the doorbell suddenly rang. "As the afternoon progressed, it was time to clean up from the weekend festivities; Daniel and I went downstairs to the basement and we were chatting, as we always do," she shared. "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. Within seconds, I heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming, 'No!'" she continued. "Daniel, being Daniel, protected his father. And he took the shooter's first bullet directly to the chest. The monster then turns his attention to my husband. And began to shoot at my husband."
Salas said Mark was shot three times: once in the right chest, once in the left abdomen and once in the right forearm. "My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure. 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," she said.
It was later revealed that the gunman was Roy Den Hollander, an anti-feminist lawyer who had argued a case before Salas which involved a challenge to the US military’s men-only draft. He had also written a 1,700-page self-published book called 'Stupid Frigging Fool' where he referred to her as a "hot" but "lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by Obama."
Salas called for action to address the lack of privacy afforded to federal judges that had allowed Hollander to find her home.
"In my case, the monster knew where I lived and what church we attended and had a complete dossier on me and my family," she said. "At the moment there is nothing we can do to stop it, and that is unacceptable. 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."