Judge decries shooting that killed son, wounded husband
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Federal Judge Esther Salas has spoken for the first time publicly about a shooting at her township home last month in which authorities say a disgruntled lawyer killed her son and seriously wounded her husband.
In a video statement issued Monday, Salas called for more privacy for federal judges in the wake of the July 19 attack at her home.
She noted that serving as judge involves “making tough calls” that sometimes leave people angry and upset. But she said judges should not have to “live in fear for our lives” because personal information, such as home addresses, can be easily obtained by anyone seeking to do them or their families harm.
She said the shooter knew where she lived, which church her family attended and had a complete dossier on their family.
“At the moment there is nothing we can do to stop it, and that is unacceptable,” Salas said. “My son’s death cannot be in vain, which is why I am begging those in power to do something to help my brothers and sisters on the bench.
“My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure. ... We may not be able to stop something like this from happening again, but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us down.”
Around 5 p.m. July 19, Daniel Anderl, 20, and his father, prominent defense attorney Mark Anderl, both went to the door of their Point of Woods Drive home in the Hidden Lake section of North Brunswick, New Jersey, where the gunman, posing as a delivery person, opened fire, killing Daniel, the couple’s only child.
Roy Den Hollander, 72, a self-proclaimed anti-feminist attorney who grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Rockland, New York, on July 20, the day after the ambush. Authorities believe he also shot and killed a fellow attorney in California in the days before the attack at Salas’ home.
Den Hollander had a list of other potential targets, including another federal judge in New Jersey, as well as two New Jersey judges and two doctors, according to The New York Times.
“I later learned that this monster, who had a FedEx package in his hand, opened fire, but Daniel being Daniel, protected his father and he took the shooter’s first bullet directly to the chest,” Salas said. “The monster then turned his attention to my husband and began to shoot at my husband, one shot after another.”