New Jersey community rocked by murder of judge Esther Salas' son, neighbor thought gun shots were 'fireworks'
NORTH BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY: The quiet neighborhood of North Brunswick is reportedly on edge ever since federal judge Esther Salas' family was attacked by a gunman on Sunday evening, July 19, killing his son and critically wounding her husband. A longtime friend of the family and neighbor, Marion Costanza, said that she was sleeping when the tragedy occurred and jolted up when she heard a gunshot.
"I had fallen asleep reading around 3 p.m. and woke up suddenly (a while later),” Costanza told NJ.com. “Something woke me up, I swear to God I thought I heard a shot. I thought it’s not the Fourth of July.” She added that she could only think about Salas' family, with who she was set to have dinner later this week. "She was devastated when her son left for college — I think for a week she cried, so can you imagine this permanent loss? I can’t even imagine as a mother and a grandmother, what it would be like to lose your only child.”
No arrests in the incident have yet been announced and the shooter, who knocked at Salas' door in the guise of a FedEx driver, is believed to be still at large. The gunman reportedly shot through 20-year-old Daniel Anderl's heart, killing him at the scene, and fired multiple shots at Judge Salas' 63-year-old husband Mark Anderl, who underwent surgery on Sunday evening at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Judge Salas — who was believed to be in the basement at the time of the attack — was unharmed, she has now received a security detail from the US Marshals.
Another neighbor of the family, Wenfeng Zhang, on Monday, July 20, said that he heard people talking loudly on Sunday and then “bang, bang.” Zhang added that he generally opens the door when someone knocks, however, considering the tragedy, he will reassess his approach.
“I think we just have to be very careful," he said. “I think from now on I might set up a camera. When strangers open the door you should think about it before you open the door,” adding, “my wife didn’t sleep well last night.”
Zhang said that his wife, Jenny Wang, had heard a sound at around 5 PM on Sunday and had assumed it was fireworks. "I didn’t realize it was a gun — bing, bing, bing, I thought it was a firework.” She told the outlet that her husband saw a delivery truck drive away shortly after they heard the shots. “My husband didn’t realize the guy was a criminal," she added. Reports state that investigators, on Monday, removed the doorbell and door handle of the Salas and Andrel’s home, possibly to take fingerprints of the suspect.
Although no motive for the fatal shooting has yet been established, it has emerged that Salas, District Court judge, in North Brunswick, New Jersey, had received multiple threats previously. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in a tweet, said that they were looking for "one subject" in the shooting.
The mayor of North Brunswick, New Jersey, Francis 'Mac' Womack, who is friends with the Salas family, in a statement on Sunday, had revealed that Daniel was "shot through the heart." He also said that the judge had previously received threats, but there had not been a recent one.
"As a judge, she had threats from time to time, but everyone is saying that recently there had not been any," the mayor told ABC News. "No words can express the sadness and loss we share tonight as a community after senseless shootings of the husband and son of USDC Judge Esther Salas." He added that the investigators are now "trying to get a hard make on the vehicle" to track the suspect. "We commit to do all we can to support the family in this time, as well as all law enforcement agencies involved."
FBI’s Newark office has asked anyone with information related to the shooting or the suspect to call 973-792-3001.