I’m interested in finding the motive here.
Could it be because she was a young, black, female, Republican?
Eunice Dwumfour, a 30-year-old New Jersey councilwoman, was found dead outside her Sayreville home Wednesday evening in what officials believe was a “targeted” attack, authorities say.
In a press release, Sayreville police chief Daniel Plumacker and Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said a woman, later identified as Dwumfour, was located by police at 7:22 p.m. inside her vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds.
Police said the councilwoman was pronounced dead on the scene, noting that the incident is being investigated as a homicide.
No arrests have been reported in connection with the shooting. However, an eyewitness who lives in the area saw an individual, possibly the suspect, running toward the Garden State Parkway, which is near the scene of the shooting, RLS Media reported.
Authorities told news outlets that Dwumfour was believed to be the intended target, but have not given a motive.
The Sayreville Police Department, meanwhile, alerted citizens in a statement on Facebook of police activity in the area while advising everyone to avoid the scene.
A video shared on social media by Charlie Kratovil, a journalist and the founder of New Brunswick Today, shows police at the scene of the shooting as a white Nissan SUV is being towed away.
Kratovil said on Twitter that he personally knew Dwumfour and described the councilwoman as “a very kind person and public servant.”
“A huge loss for the Sayreville community,” Kratovil wrote. “May she rest in peace.”
Dwumfour, a Republican and political newcomer, was elected in November 2021 and started her three-year term after winning against an incumbent Democrat in the Borough of Sayreville.
Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick said in a statement on Thursday that the community is “shocked and saddened” at the loss of the councilwoman, adding that she had personally “worked very closely” with her as she served on the Borough Council.
“The fact that she was taken from us by a despicable criminal act makes this incident all the more horrifying,” Kilpatrick said, noting that she’s confident law enforcement “will bring this fast-moving investigation to a quick and successful conclusion and look forward to the identification, arrest, and successful prosecution of the person responsible.”
In a statement, the New Jersey Republican Party remembered Dwumfour for her “steadfast dedication to the community, as well as her deep and abiding Christian faith.”
“I would like to express our horror and deepest sorrow at the senseless violence that claimed the life of Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour,” said Bob Hugin, chairman of the committee. “We have the utmost confidence that law enforcement will bring the perpetrators of this heartbreaking tragedy to justice.”