Jersey City Shooting: Charity to pay fallen police officer’s mortgage

As Jersey City, New Jersey, mourns after this week’s deadly shooting, a charity has stepped up to help the family of the police officer who was killed.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation says it will pay off the mortgage on Det. Joseph Seals’ home. Seals was killed while trying to stop the two shooters at a cemetery before they killed three people in a supermarket. He had a wife and five children.

“The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has the law enforcement’s back,” said CEO and Chairman Frank Siller. “And this is to their families, who worry every single night and every single day when their loved one goes out to protect your streets — so we can live in this great country that we live in. We will not forget these families.”

Mayor Steven Fulop and Fire Department Chief Steven McGill praised Seals for his 15 years of service.

“You couldn’t even begin to talk about all the lives that have been saved by Joe throughout his career,” said Public Safety Director James Shea. “We could easily fill this room with the people that are alive today because of the police work he did preventing violent crime, removing guns — always seeking to interact with the most dangerous criminals and prevent them from harming our citizens.”

Gov. Phil Murphy ordered flags be flown at half-staff at all state buildings through December 20 in recognition of Seals and the three other victims.

“We offer our condolences to their families, especially at this time of year, when families should be coming together in celebration, not coming together in grief,” Murphy said. “We will keep the victims of this vicious hate crime in our thoughts and prayers as we work to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.”

Seals’ funeral will be Tuesday.

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation is named for a firefighter who died at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.