CLIFTON, N.J. - A gunman entered a New Jersey church Sunday and shot three people, killing his estranged wife and injuring two others.
Some 200 people were attending services inside St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street in Clifton, when the gunman opened fire before noon Sunday.
Multiple 9-1-1 calls were said to come from inside the church.
Clifton Police Det. Capt. Robert Rowan told the Star-Ledger newspaper of Newark the woman was identified as 24-year-old Reshma James. Police identified the gunman as 27-year-old Joseph Pallipurath of Sacramento, Calif., James' estranged husband.
Rowan said all three victims were shot in the head and the other two victims, a 47-year-old woman and 23-year-old man, were in critical condition.
A spokeswoman for St. Joseph's Medical in Paterson, where the victims were being treated, declined comment on their conditions.
Police said Pallipurath was driving a green 2004 Jeep with California licence plates and a black soft top. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and was believed to be carrying a silver handgun.
Rowan said James had recently moved from California to New Jersey to escape an abusive marriage and had filed a restraining order against Pallipurath.
Members of the church are mostly first-generation immigrants and their children. The church's website says the regular Sunday sermon begins at 11:15 a.m.
