Son of federal judge killed after gunman opened fire at her home
Daniel Anderl, a 20-year-old student at Catholic University, has died, and Mark Anderl, the judge’s husband and a defense attorney, was injured, according to Chief Judge Freda Wolfson. Salas was unharmed, Wolfson said.
Both the US Marshals and FBI are investigating the shooting and working to find the suspected gunman. Initial reports from law enforcement said Daniel Anderl opened the door with his father right behind him. The door opened to a hail of gunfire and the gunman fled, a law enforcement source told CNN.
“We are looking for one subject,” the FBI said in a statement. “We are working closely with our state and local partners and will provide additional updates when available.”
The gunman appeared to be wearing a FedEx uniform, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
It is not yet known whether the gunman was a FedEx employee or someone posing to be an employee.
“We are aware of the media reports and are fully cooperating with investigating authorities,” Jonathan Lyons, a spokesman for FedEx, said in an email statement.
Law enforcement has not been aware of any threats against the judge, the source told CNN. Right now investigators don’t know the motive.
A family of the law
Mark Anderl, left, Esther Salas and Daniel Anderl.
Salas became New Jersey’s first Latina US District Court judge in 2011 after she was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate.
She also handled the 2018 sentencing of Farad Roland, who was found guilty of federal racketeering charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison by Salas. Roland was the leader of the South Side Cartel, “one of Newark’s most violent street gangs,” a press release from the US Justice Department said.
On Thursday, Salas was assigned to handle a class action lawsuit brought against Deutsche Bank by Ali Karimi on behalf of investors who purchased securities from the bank between November 7, 2017, and July 6, 2020. The complaint alleges that the bank “failed to properly monitor customers that the Bank itself deemed to be high risk, including, among others, the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” federal court records show.
“I was literally getting fingerprinted” when he approached her, she told the magazine. “We’ve been inseparable since 1992.”
Their son Daniel also might have had a future in law, Salas said in the New Jersey Monthly story.
“I don’t want to dissuade him, but I was pulling for a doctor,” she said in the 2018 story. “He’s been arguing with us since he could talk — practicing his advocacy skills.”
Daniel was a rising junior at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and was enrolled for classes beginning in the next few weeks, the university said. He graduated cum laude from St. Joseph High School in 2018, said Jack Timko, director of external relations at the school.
“He was well-respected, well-liked by his peers and the faculty,” Timko said. “He exemplified what we call a St. Joseph’s man. Well prepared, well educated, respectful, professional.”
North Brunswick Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack told CNN over the phone Sunday night that Mark Anderl is “one of the most straight-up honest attorneys” he has dealt with.
“He’s a very, very exuberant, vibrant, one hundred percent pleasant person,” Womack said. “He loves to talk about his wife, and he loves to brag about his son, and how his son would excel in baseball, and how he was doing down in college in Washington … I’m just very sorry to see him going through this.”
The FBI urged anyone with relevant information to call FBI Newark at 973-792-3001.
CNN’s Eric Levenson, Mitchell McCluskey, Sonia Moghe, Ganesh Setty, Alta Spells and Anna Sturla contributed to this report.
