The son of a federal judge has been shot dead and her husband critically wounded after they were attacked at their home by a gunman dressed as a FedEx driver.
The attack happened at the home of Esther Salas, an Obama-appointed District Court judge, in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Sunday evening.
Daniel Anderl, the judge’s 20-year-old son, was killed, the New Jersey Globe reported.
It’s believed the attack first began after the judge’s spouse, Mark Anderl, 63, answered the front door to the family home. He was shot several times.
Their son, Daniel then went to investigate the commotion and was fatally shot.
The attack happened at the home of Esther Salas, an Obama-appointed District Court judge
Mark Anderl, 63, is reportedly in a critical condition in hospital after being shot several times
Judge Esther Salas and her husband Mark Anderl are pictured in a photo from 2015
Daniel was a student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
His father Mark is reportedly in critical but stable condition in hospital.
Judge Salas was unharmed in the attack, which is thought to happened around 5pm, the Globe reported and was believed to have been in the basement of the home, according to NBC New York.
The judge had recently been assigned to a case that had links to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank is being accused of misleading investors ‘about anti-money-laundering deficiencies,’ including failing to properly monitor high-risk customers, that included billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting sex offense charges, however as of Sunday night authorities have not suggested the shootings are linked to any of the judge’s cases.
Salas has sat a judge on the U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark, for nine years and was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the federal bench in the state
She served as a public defender and federal magistrate before President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a District Court Judge in 2010.
The judge has presided over a several high-profile trials during her tenure, including the trial of former Real Housewife Teresa Giudice in a case regarding financial fraud.
She has also dealt with cases involving members of the Grape Street Crips according to NJ.com.
The case was connection with a long-running drug-trafficking network that was taken down by the FBI in 2015.
One of several high-profile trials Judge Salas has presided over includes the trial of former Real Housewife Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe in a case regarding financial fraud
Salas has sat a judge on the U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark, for nine years and was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the federal bench in the state
Husband, Mark Anderl also works in legal circles and served as an assistant prosecutor in Essex County for ten years before becoming a criminal defense attorney.
The FBI, U.S. Marshals, New Jersey State Police along with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General have been on the scene throughout Sunday evening as part of the investigation into the shootings.
‘The FBI is investigating a shooting that took place at the home of Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick Township, NJ early this evening July 19. We are working closely with our state and local partners and will provide additional updates when available,’ the bureau said in a statement.
So far, police have not arrested or named any suspects.
Judge who was the target of an assassination attempt had recently been assigned a case with links to Jeffrey Epstein
Judge Salas was assigned a case involving links to Jeffrey Epstein, pictured
Last week, Judge Salas was assigned a case with links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The case sees investors suing Deutsche Bank and its CEO Christian Sewing, alleging the bank made false and misleading statements before it agreed to pay a $150 million fine for compliance failures linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, and seeks unspecified damages.
It claims shareholders lost money because of Deutsche Bank’s dealings with Epstein, who was implicated in dozens of sexual abuse cases. He died last August at the age of 66 after being found hanging in a Manhattan jail.
New York regulators last week announced Deutsche Bank would pay the fine for ‘significant compliance failures’ over Epstein and two unrelated cases.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the lawsuit. Last week, it said the settlement showed ‘how important it is to continue investing in our controls and enhancing our anti-financial crime capabilities’.
The lawsuit also names as defendants Deutsche Bank’s finance chief James von Moltke and former CEO John Cryan.
The named plaintiff is Ali Karimi, who lives in Connecticut, according to court documents.
