'Lawyer' suspect in fatal shooting of judge's son found dead
Law enforcement sources told media that the suspected gunman was attorney Roy Den Hollander, who had a case challenging the military's male-only draft pending before US District Court Judge Esther Salas
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Louise Thomas
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A suspect in the shooting of a federal judge’s husband and son in New Jersey has been found dead, according to law enforcement officials.
Roy Den Hollander, who received media attention for lawsuits challenging perceived infringements of “men’s rights”, was found dead on Monday in Sullivan County, New York, officials told the Associated Press.
He had died of what were assumed to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to the FBI. The FBI said Den Hollander was the “primary subject in the attack” and confirmed he had been pronounced dead but provided no other details. The suspect’s body was found by a municipal employee in a car.
According to reports Den Hollander killed the son of US district court judge Esther Salas and wounded her husband on Sunday.
Earlier on Monday US Marshals joined the FBI in the search for the gunman, who had reportedly been dressed as a FedEx employee when he killed Daniel Anderl, 20, and critically injured Mark Anderl. Ms Salas was unharmed in the attack.
While authorities have not indicated a motive for the shooting, Ms Salas has presided over a number of high-profile cases.
She was assigned last week to a class-action lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, brought by investors who allege the company ”made false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies and failed to monitor ‘high-risk’ customers, including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” according to the AP.
The suspect’s body was found in the town of Rockland in Sullivan County, about two hours away from the Salas’s New Brunswisk home, and a senior law enforcement official told News 4 that authorities were investigating whether a package or envelope addressed to Ms Salas was found near the man’s body.
A vehicle believed to be used by the man was being searched at a nearby State Police barracks, the officials said.
Ms Salas was in the basement at the time of the attack. Officials said her husband was shot multiple times and their son was shot in the heart before the gunman fled the scene at about 1700 local time [1300 GMT] on Sunday.
While the suspect was reportedly dressed as a FedEx employee, and he had a FedEx package addressed to the judge in his nearby vehicle, it was unclear if there was an official connection to the company.
“We are aware of the media reports and are fully cooperating with investigating authorities,” FedEx said in a statement emailed to media.
Unidentified sources told ABC News, however, that the suspect had appeared as an attorney in a case before Ms Salas in 2015. Den Hollander had a case challenging the military’s male-only draft pending before Ms Salas.
US attorney general William Barr on Monday promised to use the full resources of the Justice Department in the investigation.
“Oh behalf of the entire Justice Department, I send my deepest condolences to Judge Salas and her family on the death of their son and wish her husband a swift and complete recovery,” Mr Barr said in a statement released by his spokesperson, Kerri Kupec.
“This kind of lawless, evil action carried out against a member of the federal judiciary will not be tolerated, and I have ordered the full resources of the FBI and US Marshals Service to investigate the matter.”
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