3 Shot in Clifton, New Jersey, Church

Wonder if the gun was legal or illegal ... chances are ....

Having read this on various threads, I just wonder if the word “church” is a misnomer here. Church implies Christian folks. This is a “Syrian/Asian/Hindu worship place. I'm pretty sure that the drivebys would have nailed the pastor by now if there was any Christianity going on there.

Hindu?!!

Syrian Christians are NOT Hindu. Please check up on the facts.

http://www.stthomasnj.org/

Syrian “Christians” was never mentioned in any text. Check your facts.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14678a.htm

Please get back.

Church shooting: 1 dead, 2 extremely critical

The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office has confirmed that Dennis John Malloosseril, 23, of Hawthorne died late last night. His family was making arrangements late last night to donate his organs. An interstate manhunt is under way for the alleged gunman -- a California man who police said drove cross-country to track down his wife at a Clifton church, where he killed her and Malloosseril and left another person near death. "He's got relatives in Georgia and relatives in California," Avigliano said. "We're pursuing both avenues." The prosecutors office, the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Marshals Service are among the agencies involved in the search.

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Yesterday, stunned, teary-eyed congregants emerged from their Clifton church after a gunman shot three people in the head, killing his estranged wife from an arranged marriage, and leaving the other two victims clinging to life. Reshma James, 24, died about 4 p.m., police said. The other two victims, identified by fellow parishioners as Malloosseril and Silvy Perincheril, 47, were in what police termed “very critical condition” yesterday afternoon. The gunman, Joseph “Sanish” Pallipurath, 27, of Sacramento, Calif., had driven cross-country to track down his wife and was still at large on Sunday night, Clifton Capt. Robert Rowan said.

Families trickled out after speaking with police inside St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street about 1:15 p.m., husbands with arms protectively around their wives and children grasping their parents’ hands. About 150 people were in the church at the time of the shooting. “I didn’t see anything — I just heard the shots,” said 15-year-old Keziah Alummoottio. “Then everyone was screaming, we got down on the floor. I was so scared, just wishing it was a dream. People started calling everyone on their cellphone, but I couldn’t. I just lay there.”

Alummoottio, who stood barefoot on the street after leaving the church, was oblivious to the bitterly cold pavement. She said she took her shoes off in the church’s vestibule before the service as tradition allows, but they “had too much blood on them and the police said I had to leave them there.” It was behind closed doors in the vestibule where Pallipurath shot the three church-goers about 11:45 a.m. Several 911 calls were made to police while others called loved ones. Police said they believe Pallipurath drove from California to find James. He has a restraining order against him in New Jersey and police believe there might be one in California but could not confirm that on Sunday. He has been charged with domestic violence and homicide. James moved from India, where she had an arranged marriage, to California in January with her husband. But church members said the relationship soon turned violent.

“He was beating her,” said Rev. Thomas Abraham Lahayil, the church’s vicar. “She had a restraining order against him.” James fled Sacramento and moved in with her cousin, Perincheril, who is the church’s Sunday school teacher and a nurse at Passaic High School, said family members. The Hawthorne woman is married and has three sons.
Church members said James has no immediate family here, and her parents were en route from India. They were uncertain whether James’ body would be shipped back for burial. According to parishioners, Sunday’s service had ended and the congregation was “praying for the departed” when they heard the gunshots. “I didn’t know what was going on at first. I thought the microphone wasn’t working,” said Lahayil. “Then I heard three or four shots and then people were running around. We couldn’t see anything because he was in the back. I am traumatized. I was not prepared for this kind of experience.”

Liya Manimalethu, 16, said she “just remembers everyone yelling to get down. I thought the flagpole fell.” People scurried under the wooden benches and waited several minutes before getting up. “Then everyone just started praying,” Manimalethu said. Malloosseril’s aunt, Suja Alummoottil, of Stockholm, saw Pallipurath enter the building. She said she had gone back to the vestibule to help Perincheril and James organize some essays the children had written for Sunday school classes. That’s when Pallipurath entered the building. “He had a beard and was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up,” Alummoottil said. “I knew something was wrong because who comes to church like that? He was angry and said ‘I came to get my wife. I’ve been walking around without my wife for months.’ ” She then said the man said to his wife, “Are you coming with me?”

James asked Pallipurath not to make a commotion in church and they argued for a bit, Alummoottil said. She asked if she should get help, and said she never saw a gun. Pallipurath pointed his finger at her and said, ‘I don’t want you going anywhere,’ according to Allummoottil. But she went into the church’s nave to find Perincheril’s husband. That’s when she heard the shots. Malloosseril, who had been standing at the back of the church, went into the vestibule. Police say he intervened but didn’t elaborate. Pallipurath fled before police arrived. Authorities including the FBI, state police, and several county agencies are looking for him. He was last seen driving a 2004 green Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top and California license plate 5JHD200. Police believe he has a silver handgun and anyone who spots him should call 911.

Parishioner Aniyan Panavelil, of Leonia, was inside the church when the shooting occurred. He said when Malloosseril and Perincheril tried to block Pallipurath from grabbing his estranged wife, Pallipurath shot all three in the head at point-blank range. “All of a sudden, doom, doom, doom — somebody shooting,” Panavelil said “Everybody went down.” Amid tight security, more than 30 family members, parishioners and other supporters gathered in the front lobby at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center Sunday afternoon, where they consoled one another and waited for news about the victims. Thomas Jacob, a parishioner and friend of the victims, said doctors were waiting to see if they could remove the bullet lodged in Malloosseril’s head. A computer analyst and on the church’s board of directors, Malloosseril maintained the church Web site. Tuesday is Malloosseril’s birthday.

A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on the victims’ condition, saying the family had not given her consent to do so. About 200 families are members of this Syrian-Orthodox church, the only one in New Jersey for immigrants from the Kerala state in India. Most of the Asian-Indian members are first generation immigrants and their children. Parishioners, who are close-knit and refer to each other as family, come from as far away as Long Island. John Daniel, from West Paterson, said about 300 people belong to the church, tucked in a residential street off Clifton Avenue. He waited patiently in the cold for almost two hours for his wife and son to come out of the church. “My wife called me on her cellphone and said someone was shooting in the church and to call 911, so I did and came right over here,” Daniel said. “They’re OK, but it’s not just them — we all know everyone in there. We’re all family.”

Jincy Kuryala, from Ogdensburg, brought her three sons and nephew, ranging in age from 4 to 10, to Sunday’s service. Following church doctrine, the boys were sitting with the men on the other side of the church from the females. “As soon as I heard the shots, I ran to the boys,” Kuryala said, her eyes rimmed with tears. “I don’t know how I’m going to help them deal with this. I’m still really shaky.”

UPDATE (10:30 a.m.):

Joseph “Sanish” Pallipurath is accused of shooting three churchgoers this morning at St. Thomas Knanaya in Clifton.

The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office has confirmed that Dennis John Malloosseril, 23, of Hawthorne died late last night. His family was making arrangements late last night to donate his organs. INFO

Joseph “Sanish” Pallipurath, 27, drove off in a 1994 green Jeep Wrangler with a soft black top and California license plate No. 5JHD200, police said. They ask that anyone who sees him or the Jeep call 911 immediately.

SEE VIDEODeadly New Jersey Church Shooting
Gunman shoots 3 at NJ church during services
Police: Wife shot and killed at New Jersey church

An interstate manhunt is under way for the alleged gunman -- a California man who police said drove cross-country to track down his wife at a Clifton church, where he killed her and Malloosseril and left another person near death. "He's got relatives in Georgia and relatives in California," Avigliano said. "We're pursuing both avenues." The prosecutors office, the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Marshals Service are among the agencies involved in the search.

People were overcome with grief outside the church.

Yesterday, stunned, teary-eyed congregants emerged from their Clifton church after a gunman shot three people in the head, killing his estranged wife from an arranged marriage, and leaving the other two victims clinging to life. Reshma James, 24, died about 4 p.m., police said. The other two victims, identified by fellow parishioners as Malloosseril and Silvy Perincheril, 47, were in what police termed “very critical condition” yesterday afternoon. The gunman, Joseph “Sanish” Pallipurath, 27, of Sacramento, Calif., had driven cross-country to track down his wife and was still at large on Sunday night, Clifton Capt. Robert Rowan said. Families trickled out after speaking with police inside St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street about 1:15 p.m., husbands with arms protectively around their wives and children grasping their parents’ hands. About 150 people were in the church at the time of the shooting.

“I didn’t see anything — I just heard the shots,” said 15-year-old Keziah Alummoottio. “Then everyone was screaming, we got down on the floor. I was so scared, just wishing it was a dream. People started calling everyone on their cellphone, but I couldn’t. I just lay there.” Alummoottio, who stood barefoot on the street after leaving the church, was oblivious to the bitterly cold pavement. She said she took her shoes off in the church’s vestibule before the service as tradition allows, but they “had too much blood on them and the police said I had to leave them there.” It was behind closed doors in the vestibule where Pallipurath shot the three church-goers about 11:45 a.m. Several 911 calls were made to police while others called loved ones.

Police said they believe Pallipurath drove from California to find James. He has a restraining order against him in New Jersey and police believe there might be one in California but could not confirm that on Sunday. He has been charged with domestic violence and homicide. James moved from India, where she had an arranged marriage, to California in January with her husband. But church members said the relationship soon turned violent. “He was beating her,” said Rev. Thomas Abraham Lahayil, the church’s vicar. “She had a restraining order against him.”

James fled Sacramento and moved in with her cousin, Perincheril, who is the church’s Sunday school teacher and a nurse at Passaic High School, said family members. The Hawthorne woman is married and has three sons. Church members said James has no immediate family here, and her parents were en route from India. They were uncertain whether James’ body would be shipped back for burial. According to parishioners, Sunday’s service had ended and the congregation was “praying for the departed” when they heard the gunshots. “I didn’t know what was going on at first. I thought the microphone wasn’t working,” said Lahayil. “Then I heard three or four shots and then people were running around. We couldn’t see anything because he was in the back. I am traumatized. I was not prepared for this kind of experience.”

Liya Manimalethu, 16, said she “just remembers everyone yelling to get down. I thought the flagpole fell.” People scurried under the wooden benches and waited several minutes before getting up. “Then everyone just started praying,” Manimalethu said. Malloosseril’s aunt, Suja Alummoottil, of Stockholm, saw Pallipurath enter the building. She said she had gone back to the vestibule to help Perincheril and James organize some essays the children had written for Sunday school classes. That’s when Pallipurath entered the building. “He had a beard and was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up,” Alummoottil said. “I knew something was wrong because who comes to church like that? He was angry and said ‘I came to get my wife. I’ve been walking around without my wife for months.’ ” She then said the man said to his wife, “Are you coming with me?”

James asked Pallipurath not to make a commotion in church and they argued for a bit, Alummoottil said. She asked if she should get help, and said she never saw a gun. Pallipurath pointed his finger at her and said, ‘I don’t want you going anywhere,’ according to Allummoottil. But she went into the church’s nave to find Perincheril’s husband. That’s when she heard the shots. Malloosseril, who had been standing at the back of the church, went into the vestibule. Police say he intervened but didn’t elaborate.

Pallipurath fled before police arrived. Authorities including the FBI, state police, and several county agencies are looking for him. He was last seen driving a 2004 green Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top and California license plate 5JHD200. Police believe he has a silver handgun and anyone who spots him should call 911. Parishioner Aniyan Panavelil, of Leonia, was inside the church when the shooting occurred. He said when Malloosseril and Perincheril tried to block Pallipurath from grabbing his estranged wife, Pallipurath shot all three in the head at point-blank range. “All of a sudden, doom, doom, doom — somebody shooting,” Panavelil said “Everybody went down.” Amid tight security, more than 30 family members, parishioners and other supporters gathered in the front lobby at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center Sunday afternoon, where they consoled one another and waited for news about the victims.

Thomas Jacob, a parishioner and friend of the victims, said doctors were waiting to see if they could remove the bullet lodged in Malloosseril’s head. A computer analyst and on the church’s board of directors, Malloosseril maintained the church Web site. Tuesday is Malloosseril’s birthday. A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on the victims’ condition, saying the family had not given her consent to do so. About 200 families are members of this Syrian-Orthodox church, the only one in New Jersey for immigrants from the Kerala state in India. Most of the Asian-Indian members are first generation immigrants and their children. Parishioners, who are close-knit and refer to each other as family, come from as far away as Long Island.

John Daniel, from West Paterson, said about 300 people belong to the church, tucked in a residential street off Clifton Avenue. He waited patiently in the cold for almost two hours for his wife and son to come out of the church. “My wife called me on her cellphone and said someone was shooting in the church and to call 911, so I did and came right over here,” Daniel said. “They’re OK, but it’s not just them — we all know everyone in there. We’re all family.”

Jincy Kuryala, from Ogdensburg, brought her three sons and nephew, ranging in age from 4 to 10, to Sunday’s service. Following church doctrine, the boys were sitting with the men on the other side of the church from the females. “As soon as I heard the shots, I ran to the boys,” Kuryala said, her eyes rimmed with tears. “I don’t know how I’m going to help them deal with this. I’m still really shaky.”

.

Syrian “Christians” was never mentioned in any text. Check your facts. >>>

the article did say “St. Thomas” that could have been a clue. There are millions of Christian Indians who follow many of the Christian religions: Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22st.+thomas%22+%22india%22&aq=f&oq=

.

Come on, read up a bit — the Syrian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Churchs in the world — linked to the Assyrian Church (or the Church of the East).

.

Thanks for the ping.

St. Thomas evangelized India.

From http://www.indianchristianity.org/thomas.html

It is interesting to note that Malikayal’ speaks of St. Thoma’s arrival by sea to the port of ‘Maliankara’ (Kodungallur). The commercial history of the times lends support to this assumption. He must have either sailed from Kalyan in north India or from the island of ‘Socotra’. He established the following 7 churches and a Christian community in Malayattor as it is narrated in “St. Thomas parvam” by ‘Rabban.

It is the hoary and unquestioned tradition in Malabar, which is corroborated by the customs of the place and by the ethnological research, that the Apostle was signally successful in the conversion of the high cast ‘Nambuthiri Brahmins’. Four of the leading Brahmin families are believed to been raised to the privilege of the priesthood. They are:

a) Palamattam (Pakalomattam)
b) Sankarapuri
c) Kalli &
d) Kalliankavu.

Some of them still exist in ‘Koravilangad’ a place near Kottayam in Kerala. The head of the Malabar Church - the Archdeacon - had to be selected from Pakalomattam. This practice was continued among the Jacobite seceders, till a hundred years ago. There is a strong belief throughout Malabar that St. Thomas founded 7 Churches or group of Christians in the following places and the imprints and tradition proves it true.

Early Migration of Christians from Palayur to Travencore
In the history of Kerala, having put a stamp that will not fade, Brahmin families like Kalli, Kalikavu, Pagalomattom, and Shankarapuri where among the families who received Baptism in Palayoor. The families of Shankarapuri and Pagalomattom were given Priestly Status by St. Thomas.

In the 2nd Century AD all the four Family migrated from Palayoor via Angamali, Kadathuruthi to Ettmanoor. The Devasom of Ettmanoor did not allow them to stay there and sent them to a place 5 Km. away which was the Forest of the Goddess Kali. In those days the Forest of goddess Kali was believed to be full of Witches and Devils and people, were scared to stay in such places. The people who came from Palayoor stayed there without any fear not knowing about these facts. To prove this there are documents. The entire house names, house numbers, survey numbers are there in the Government Records. Survey 460/5, 460/6, 519/8 belonged to these Families. During those days there was no place for worship or Burial and the families worshipped at home and used their own property to bury the dead. Where these 4 families stayed they established a Chapel. There still exists 5 Graves near the famous Forest of Kali (Kalikavu) Grotto. It is believed that these are the graves of 5 important members of these families. This cemetery was just next to the Shakutirikal Family. Right now it is in the procession of Claratu Bhavan Seminary.

The Koravelangattu Church: It is believed that the above said 4 families and the Kadapoor family, which came from Palayoor, joined together and established the Koravelangattu Church. The Kalli and the Pagalomattom Families stayed on the Northern side of the church and the Shankarapuri, Kalikavu and the Kadapoor families stayed on the Southern side of the Church. So it came to be that Shankarapuri Family got the house name Thekkedethu meaning Southern Side, and Pagalomattom Family got the house name Vadakaedethu meaning Northern Side. There were a lot of priests in these families for many generations.

Indian Christianity is Apostolic.

http://broadband.indiatimes.com/toishowvideo/3754963.cms

Guns recovered

Police recover the murder weapons from the recent church shooting in Clifton.

See the video

News

A confession and two murder weapons

4:20 p.m.: Joseph Pallipurath confessed this morning to killing his estranged wife and shooting two others -- one of whom died -- at a Clifton church this past weekend, authorities said today. Walton County, Ga. Assistant District Attorney Eric Crawford said audio and video recorders were rolling when Pallipurath confessed early this morning. “He admitted to shooting three separate people,” said Crawford. “He pointed out his wife.” Crawford said his office will send recordings of the confession to the Clifton Police Department this week. Pallipurath shot his estranged wife, 24-year-old Reshma James, in the head, along with Dennis John Malloosseril, 25, and Silvy Perincheril, 47, at the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church in Clifton on Sunday.

James and Malloosseril died later that day. Perincheril remains on life support at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. Pallipurath waived his right to an extradition hearing today. Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano said that Pallipurath would be returned to Passaic County next week.

2:20 p.m.: Police discovered two guns in a nearby trash can that they believe were used in the shootings. A neighborhood resident called police after spotting the Jeep around noon, Capt. Rowan said. Police believe Pallipurath may have taken a Greyhound bus to Georgia where he was arrested last yesterday.

2 p.m.: Police said they have found Joseph Pallipurath's green Jeep behind a Clifton shopping center several blocks from the church where three people were shot, two fatally. Crime scene investigators are at the center at Getty and Madison avenues, said Clifton Detective Capt. Robert Rowan.Caution tape has been strung around the parking lot. Check back for more details.

1:57 p.m.:
News has spread quickly about Joseph Pallipurath’s capture among the tight knit community of St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church. Some church members were awoken by phone calls from relatives in the middle of the night. Others heard the reports early Tuesday morning.
“Thank God. It’s good news,” said Shaju Manimalethu, the Clifton church’s deacon. Relatives of Silvy Perincheril, who remained on life support Tuesday, said they felt relieved about Pallipurath’s capture, but are focusing their thoughts on the 47-year-old woman’s recovery.

“My only focus is my mom at this point,” said Jacob Perincheril, 22, the eldest of three sons. “We’re just glad that he can’t hurt anyone else.” Reached in the morning, Mathai Pallipurath, the suspect’s father, said he had just heard the news of his son’s capture and could not comment at the moment. “I am in a difficult situation right now,” Pallipurath said. “I feel really bad.”

1:43 p.m.: The double-murder suspect who fled to Georgia after a deadly shooting in a Clifton church could be back in New Jersey by Friday, a law enforcement official said. Joseph Pallipurath, 27, appeared before Georgia State Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Ozburn this morning and waived his right to an extradition hearing, said Walton County Assistant District Attorney Eric Crawford. Pallipurath, who was not represented by an attorney, will remain in the Walton County Jail until local authorities make the trip to Monroe City, Ga. to return him to Passaic County to face two murder charges. Pallipurath was seen on Sunday fleeing the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church in Clifton where police and eyewitnesses say he shot his estranged wife, Reshma James, 24, a man who tried to intervene, Dennis John Malloosseril, 25, and James’ cousin, Silvy Perincheril, 47.

James and Malloosseril both died on Sunday. Perincheril remains in critical condition. After a nationwide manhunt, Pallipurath surrendered to authorities late Monday after he was tracked down at a motor inn in Monroe, Ga. U.S. Marshal James Plousis welcomed the news that there would be no extradition hearing, which could have potentially dragged on for weeks, he said. “Now they can logistically get him back by the end of the week,” Plousis said. Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano and Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department could not be reached immediately for comment on the suspect’s transfer to New Jersey.

11:29 a.m.: Fugitive hunting can be a high-tech endeavor, but it was knocking on doors and finding a wallet in a garbage can that led police to the murder suspect of a shooting in a small Clifton church Joseph Palliparuth to justice, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigilano “A lot of it was just shoe-leather,” said Avigliano. “Going to every motel and hotel in the area and showing a picture. That’s how you get things done.” Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department said that a wallet containing Palliparuth’s personal papers found in a garbage can near a Monroe, Ga. convenience store was a break in the investigation. “It was just like good old-fashioned police work,” Rowan said. “We got lucky.” Sgt. Det. John Fitzmayer of the Monroe City Police Department said that clerks in the Harmony Trip convenience store at 1532 South Broad Street in Monroe recovered the wallet and called Clifton police. Police in Monroe City followed up on the tip.

The find helped Georgia authorities narrow their search, he said. “That showed that he was definitely in the area,” said Fitzmayer. Canvassing the community eventually brought police to the Monroe Motor Inn, where Fitzmayer knocked on the door of Room 111, Pallipurath answered and upon seeing the officers offered his hands to be cuffed.

11:00 a.m.: Joseph Pallipurath, who was arrested on Monday in connection with a fatal shooting in Clifton church, lived in Paterson for two weeks before the crime on Sunday, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano. “He was renting a room on East 23rd Street,” said Avigliano, who did not disclose the identity of the property owners. “They had nothing to do with it,” the prosecutor said, referring to the shooting at St. Thomas Syrian Orthadox Knanaya Church that took the lives of Reshma James, 24, Dennis John Malloosseril, 25, and critically wounded Silvy Perincheril, 47.

Police say that Pallipurath had driven from Sacramento, Calif. to track down James, his estranged wife who fled after he had become abusive. Reached at 8 a.m. Sacramento time, Mathai Pallipurath, the suspect's father, said he had just heard the news of his son's capture and could not comment. "I am in a difficult situation right now," the elder Pallipurath said. "I feel really bad."

10:17 a.m.: The man arrested in connection with a deadly shooting in a Clifton church on Sunday is scheduled to appear before a Georgia state judge at 11:30 a.m. for an extradition hearing today, authorities said. Joseph M. Pallipurath is sitting in Walton County jail cell after surrendering to U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force and the local Sheriffs Department who tracked him down at the Monroe Motor Inn at 11:46 p.m. on yesterday. Eric Crawford, Walton County assistant district attorney, said he would interview Pallipurath, who faces two murder charges, within the hour. It was not known whether the suspect would fight extradition, Crawford said. U.S. Marshal James Plousis said on Tuesday that Pallipurath said little during the preliminary interview with Georgia authorities.

Plousis said that the gun was not recovered that was used in the murders of Reshma James, 24, Pallipurath’s estranged wife, and Dennis John Massoolleril, 25, and the severe wounding of Silvy Perincheril, 47. Neither was the 2004 green Jeep Wrangler with California license plates that Pallipurath was spotted driving away from St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church after the fatal shooting on Sunday morning. Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department said police were “extremely pleased” about Palliparuth’s surrender.

“This was a very heinous crime,” Rowan said. “It’s very pleasing to be able to take this dangerous individual off the street. Now he will face justice for what he has done.” Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigilano said credit the cooperative effort of the numerous law enforcement agencies in apprehending Palliparuth.

6:00 a.m.: The California man accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife and another man during a Sunday morning church service has been captured in Georgia. Joseph M. Pallipurath has been charged with two counts of murder, according to Sgt. John Minton of the Walton County Sheriff's Office. Authorities arrested Pallipurath on a New Jersey warrant at the Monroe Motor Inn in Monroe, Ga. about 47 miles east of Atlanta at 11:46 last night, Minton said. "He was fine, mobile, talking," Minton said, adding however that "he didn't talk about the situation." Minton said he didn't know how authorities traced Pallipurath.

Pallipurath is being held at the Walton County Jail. He will not receive bail because he is awaiting extradition. Minton said he will go in front of a Georgia Superior Court judge today who will sign the letters of extradition. Police believe Pallipurath, 27, of Sacramento drove across the country before shooting his wife, Reshma James, along with Silvy Perincheril and Dennis John Malloosseril -- all in the head -- at their Clifton church Sunday morning. After the shooting, Pallipurath drove off in a 2004 green Jeep Wrangler with a soft black top and a California license plate 5JHD200, authorities said. A interstate manhunt ensued with the prosecutor's office, the Passaic County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service involved in the manhunt.

The suspect's father, Mathai Pallipurath, urged his son to surrender, and asked his son's friends to do the same if they hear from him. Malloosseril and James died. Police said Pallipurath has a restraining order against him in New Jersey and police believe there might be one in California but could not confirm that on Sunday. James moved from India, where she had an arranged marriage, to California in January with her husband. But church members said the relationship soon turned violent.

“He was beating her,” said Abraham Lahayil, the church’s vicar. “She had a restraining order against him.” James fled Sacramento and moved in with her cousin, Perincheril, who is the church’s Sunday school teacher and a nurse at Passaic High School, said family members. Perincheril, 47, is in a coma at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson.

4:20 p.m.: Joseph Pallipurath confessed this morning to killing his estranged wife and shooting two others -- one of whom died -- at a Clifton church this past weekend, authorities said today.

Police believe they've found the murder weapons.

Walton County, Ga. Assistant District Attorney Eric Crawford said audio and video recorders were rolling when Pallipurath confessed early this morning. "He admitted to shooting three separate people,” said Crawford. “He pointed out his wife.” Crawford said his office will send recordings of the confession to the Clifton Police Department this week. Pallipurath shot his estranged wife, 24-year-old Reshma James, in the head, along with Dennis John Malloosseril, 25, and Silvy Perincheril, 47, at the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church in Clifton on Sunday.

SEE VIDEO:

Watch the fugitive get captured
Deadly New Jersey Church Shooting
Gunman shoots 3 at NJ church during services

James and Malloosseril died later that day. Perincheril remains on life support at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. Pallipurath waived his right to an extradition hearing today.

Joseph Pallipurath

Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano said that Pallipurath would be returned to Passaic County next week.

2:20 p.m.: Police discovered two guns in a nearby trash can that they believe were used in the shootings. A neighborhood resident called police after spotting the Jeep around noon, Capt. Rowan said. Police believe Pallipurath may have taken a Greyhound bus to Georgia where he was arrested last yesterday.

2 p.m.: Police said they have found Joseph Pallipurath's green Jeep behind a Clifton shopping center several blocks from the church where three people were shot, two fatally. Crime scene investigators are at the center at Getty and Madison avenues, said Clifton Detective Capt. Robert Rowan. Caution tape has been strung around the parking lot. Check back for more details.

1:57 p.m.:
News has spread quickly about Joseph Pallipurath’s capture among the tight knit community of St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church. Some church members were awoken by phone calls from relatives in the middle of the night. Others heard the reports early Tuesday morning. “Thank God. It’s good news,” said Shaju Manimalethu, the Clifton church’s deacon. Relatives of Silvy Perincheril, who remained on life support Tuesday, said they felt relieved about Pallipurath’s capture, but are focusing their thoughts on the 47-year-old woman’s recovery.

“My only focus is my mom at this point,” said Jacob Perincheril, 22, the eldest of three sons. “We’re just glad that he can’t hurt anyone else.” Reached in the morning, Mathai Pallipurath, the suspect’s father, said he had just heard the news of his son’s capture and could not comment at the moment. “I am in a difficult situation right now,” Pallipurath said. “I feel really bad.”

1:43 p.m.: The double-murder suspect who fled to Georgia after a deadly shooting in a Clifton church could be back in New Jersey by Friday, a law enforcement official said. Joseph Pallipurath, 27, appeared before Georgia State Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Ozburn this morning and waived his right to an extradition hearing, said Walton County Assistant District Attorney Eric Crawford. Pallipurath, who was not represented by an attorney, will remain in the Walton County Jail until local authorities make the trip to Monroe City, Ga. to return him to Passaic County to face two murder charges. Pallipurath was seen on Sunday fleeing the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church in Clifton where police and eyewitnesses say he shot his estranged wife, Reshma James, 24, a man who tried to intervene, Dennis John Malloosseril, 25, and James’ cousin, Silvy Perincheril, 47.

James and Malloosseril both died on Sunday. Perincheril remains in critical condition. After a nationwide manhunt, Pallipurath surrendered to authorities late Monday after he was tracked down at a motor inn in Monroe, Ga. U.S. Marshal James Plousis welcomed the news that there would be no extradition hearing, which could have potentially dragged on for weeks, he said. “Now they can logistically get him back by the end of the week,” Plousis said. Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano and Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department could not be reached immediately for comment on the suspect’s transfer to New Jersey.

11:29 a.m.: Fugitive hunting can be a high-tech endeavor, but it was knocking on doors and finding a wallet in a garbage can that led police to the murder suspect of a shooting in a small Clifton church Joseph Palliparuth to justice, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigilano. “A lot of it was just shoe-leather,” said Avigliano. “Going to every motel and hotel in the area and showing a picture. That’s how you get things done.” Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department said that a wallet containing Palliparuth’s personal papers found in a garbage can near a Monroe, Ga. convenience store was a break in the investigation. “It was just like good old-fashioned police work,” Rowan said. “We got lucky.”

Sgt. Det. John Fitzmayer of the Monroe City Police Department said that clerks in the Harmony Trip convenience store at 1532 South Broad Street in Monroe recovered the wallet and called Clifton police. Police in Monroe City followed up on the tip. The find helped Georgia authorities narrow their search, he said.“That showed that he was definitely in the area,” said Fitzmayer. Canvassing the community eventually brought police to the Monroe Motor Inn, where Fitzmayer knocked on the door of Room 111, Pallipurath answered and upon seeing the officers offered his hands to be cuffed.

11:00 a.m.: Joseph Pallipurath, who was arrested on Monday in connection with a fatal shooting in Clifton church, lived in Paterson for two weeks before the crime on Sunday, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano. “He was renting a room on East 23rd Street,” said Avigliano, who did not disclose the identity of the property owners. “They had nothing to do with it,” the prosecutor said, referring to the shooting at St. Thomas Syrian Orthadox Knanaya Church that took the lives of Reshma James, 24, Dennis John Malloosseril, 25, and critically wounded Silvy Perincheril, 47.

Police say that Pallipurath had driven from Sacramento, Calif. to track down James, his estranged wife who fled after he had become abusive. Reached at 8 a.m. Sacramento time, Mathai Pallipurath, the suspect's father, said he had just heard the news of his son's capture and could not comment. "I am in a difficult situation right now," the elder Pallipurath said. "I feel really bad."

10:17 a.m.: The man arrested in connection with a deadly shooting in a Clifton church on Sunday is scheduled to appear before a Georgia state judge at 11:30 a.m. for an extradition hearing today, authorities said. Joseph M. Pallipurath is sitting in Walton County jail cell after surrendering to U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force and the local Sheriffs Department who tracked him down at the Monroe Motor Inn at 11:46 p.m. on yesterday. Eric Crawford, Walton County assistant district attorney, said he would interview Pallipurath, who faces two murder charges, within the hour. It was not known whether the suspect would fight extradition, Crawford said.

U.S. Marshal James Plousis said on Tuesday that Pallipurath said little during the preliminary interview with Georgia authorities. Plousis said that the gun was not recovered that was used in the murders of Reshma James, 24, Pallipurath’s estranged wife, and Dennis John Massoolleril, 25, and the severe wounding of Silvy Perincheril, 47. Neither was the 2004 green Jeep Wrangler with California license plates that Pallipurath was spotted driving away from St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church after the fatal shooting on Sunday morning.

Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department said police were “extremely pleased” about Palliparuth’s surrender. “This was a very heinous crime,” Rowan said. “It’s very pleasing to be able to take this dangerous individual off the street. Now he will face justice for what he has done.” Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigilano said credit the cooperative effort of the numerous law enforcement agencies in apprehending Palliparuth.

6:00 a.m.: The California man accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife and another man during a Sunday morning church service has been captured in Georgia. Joseph M. Pallipurath has been charged with two counts of murder, according to Sgt. John Minton of the Walton County Sheriff's Office. Authorities arrested Pallipurath on a New Jersey warrant at the Monroe Motor Inn in Monroe, Ga. about 47 miles east of Atlanta at 11:46 last night, Minton said. "He was fine, mobile, talking," Minton said, adding however that "he didn't talk about the situation."

Minton said he didn't know how authorities traced Pallipurath. Pallipurath is being held at the Walton County Jail. He will not receive bail because he is awaiting extradition. Minton said he will go in front of a Georgia Superior Court judge today who will sign the letters of extradition. Police believe Pallipurath, 27, of Sacramento drove across the country before shooting his wife, Reshma James, along with Silvy Perincheril and Dennis John Malloosseril -- all in the head -- at their Clifton church Sunday morning.

After the shooting, Pallipurath drove off in a 2004 green Jeep Wrangler with a soft black top and a California license plate 5JHD200, authorities said. A interstate manhunt ensued with the prosecutor's office, the Passaic County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service involved in the manhunt. The suspect's father, Mathai Pallipurath, urged his son to surrender, and asked his son's friends to do the same if they hear from him. Malloosseril and James died. Police said Pallipurath has a restraining order against him in New Jersey and police believe there might be one in California but could not confirm that on Sunday. James moved from India, where she had an arranged marriage, to California in January with her husband. But church members said the relationship soon turned violent.

“He was beating her,” said Abraham Lahayil, the church’s vicar. “She had a restraining order against him.” James fled Sacramento and moved in with her cousin, Perincheril, who is the church’s Sunday school teacher and a nurse at Passaic High School, said family members. Perincheril, 47, is in a coma at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson.

Justice awaits accused killer

#printDesc{display:none;}The man accused in a fatal shooting at a Clifton church will be back in New Jersey next week, the prosecutor said. Joseph Mathai Pallipurath, who is being held at the Walton County Jail about 40 miles east of Atlanta, is scheduled to be flown to Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday, according to Passaic County Prosecutor James F. Avigliano. Upon arrival, Pallipurath will be released into the custody of Passaic County Sheriff’s Department officers who will transport him to the Passaic County Jail, he said. In a statement to investigators in Monroe, Ga., Pallipurath confessed to shooting three people, including his estranged wife, on Sunday at the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street in Clifton.

His wife and a man who tried to help her died. Another woman who was shot has been on life support at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. After abandoning his 2004 Jeep Wrangler and two handguns in a public parking lot a few blocks away from the church, Pallipurath took a bus to Georgia. Late Monday night, the 27-year-old man from Sacramento, Calif. surrendered to authorities who tracked him down at a motor inn in Monroe, Ga., a town between Atlanta and Athens.

Clifton police investigating the crime said that Pallipurath had cross ed the country to find his wife, Reshma James, 24. James fled Pallipurath because he had become abusive, police said. The man accused in a fatal shooting at a Clifton church will be back in New Jersey next week, the prosecutor said.

Joseph Mathai Pallipurath, who is being held at the Walton County Jail about 40 miles east of Atlanta, is scheduled to be flown to Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday, according to Passaic County Prosecutor James F. Avigliano. Upon arrival, Pallipurath will be released into the custody of Passaic County Sheriff’s Department officers who will transport him to the Passaic County Jail, he said.

In a statement to investigators in Monroe, Ga., Pallipurath confessed to shooting three people, including his estranged wife, on Sunday at the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street in Clifton. His wife and a man who tried to help her died. Another woman who was shot has been on life support at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

After abandoning his 2004 Jeep Wrangler and two handguns in a public parking lot a few blocks away from the church, Pallipurath took a bus to Georgia. Late Monday night, the 27-year-old man from Sacramento, Calif. surrendered to authorities who tracked him down at a motor inn in Monroe, Ga., a town between Atlanta and Athens. Clifton police investigating the crime said that Pallipurath had cross ed the country to find his wife, Reshma James, 24. James fled Pallipurath because he had become abusive, police said.

Archbishop arrives to help Clifton church heal

Thursday, November 27, 2008 #printDesc{display:none;}

CLIFTON — Minutes after a gunman shot three members of a Clifton church Sunday, the Christian sect’s spiritual leader in India received word of the tragedy.

"He was in shock," said the Rev. Thomas Abraham Lahayil, pastor of St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church, who called the archbishop. "He stayed up all night worrying about the situation." On Wednesday, Archbishop Kuriakose Mor Severios arrived from India to lead a memorial service for the two church members killed by a gunman allegedly seeking his estranged wife, and to pray for the one woman remaining in a coma at a local hospital.

The leader of the Knanaya Diocese recited evening prayers in Malayalam, the Indian language spoken by most of the congregants. Dressed in black robes, the archbishop noted Wednesday night that Dennis John Malloosseril’s last act before he died Sunday was taking of the holy communion. "He was sanctified," he told the nearly 200 church members. Mor Severios, 49, has traveled to the church at least two other times since he was elected archbishop in 2004. Those visits took place during happier circumstances. Joseph Mathai Pallipurath of Sacramento, Calif., told police he came to the church Sunday on a quest to reclaim his estranged wife, Reshma James. When he found James in the church’s vestibule, eyewitnesses say he shot her in the head and then shot two bystanders, Silvy Perincheril and Malloosseril.

James and Malloosseril died hours after the shooting. Perincheril, of Hawthorne, remained in critical condition Wednesday night at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. After a nationwide manhunt, Pallipurath was arrested Tuesday in a hotel in a small town in Georgia. He will remain in police custody there until his extradition to New Jersey next week. Locally, church members are preparing for Malloosseril’s funeral and keeping watch at Perincheril’s bedside. The next 24 hours are crucial in determining whether the 47-year-old woman will survive, said Jacob Perincheril, her eldest son. On Wednesday, she needed minimal assistance in breathing, but she had yet to move voluntarily.

"We’re keeping a close watch," said the younger Perincheril. James, 24, had few relatives in the United States. Her extended American kin are preparing to send her body back to India at a cost of roughly $10,000, said Joseph "Jim" Joseph, a cousin from Connecticut. Today, the church will hold the first of two days of wakes for Malloosseril. His funeral service will take place on Saturday before burial in George Washington Memorial Park cemetery in Paramus. His family hopes to bury the 25-year-old computer programmer from Hawthorne with a blue jersey from his favorite football team, the New York Giants. "It’s really emotional," said Lahayil, the pastor, while at Perincheril’s bedside Wednesday. "I’ve never seen something like this in my whole life, especially in the church."

Mor Severios came to Clifton to stand with the congregation. The young archbishop is known for his energy and charisma. Diocesan leadership elected him to replace Abraham Mor Clemis, an esteemed cleric who had presided over the sect of the Syrian Orthodox church for 57 years. "He took over from a legend," said Tom Jacob, a 60-year-old parishioner, who helped coordinate the archbishop’s trip. On Wednesday, Mor Severios said prayers to spiritually cleanse the church. He also commemorated Malloosseril, a photo of the smiling man perched on the church’s altar. After a death, parishioners in the Knanayan tradition mourn on the third, ninth, 30th and 40th day. The chronology follows critical events in the Bible such as Easter Sunday, the rising of Christ to heaven 40 days after Lent. After Sunday Mass, a team of counselors from their religious tradition will meet with parishioners to help with the grieving process, Lahayil said. "It’s hard for people to come back," he said.

Church-shooting suspect being returned to county

Thursday, November 27, 2008

A man arrested in Georgia this week in connection with the fatal shooting at a Clifton church will be back in Passaic County next week, the prosecutor said. Joseph Mathai Pallipurath, who is being held at the Walton County Jail about 40 miles east of Atlanta, is scheduled to be flown to Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday, according to Passaic County Prosecutor James F. Avigliano. Pallipurath will be under the watch of detectives from the Prosecutor's Office and the Clifton Police Department during the flight, Avigliano said. Upon arrival, Pallipurath will be released into the custody of Passaic County Sheriff's Department officers who will then transport him to the Passaic County Jail, he said.

In a statement to investigators in Monroe, Ga., authorities say, Pallipurath confessed to shooting three people, including his estranged wife, on Sunday at the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street in Clifton. In his videotaped confession, he said he would have killed everyone in the building if he'd had a machine gun, a Georgia prosecutor told the Associated Press. "He was very emotional and very animated during the course of the interview," Walton County Assistant District Attorney Eric Crawford said. "The impression I got was he was waiting to talk to somebody and tell his side of the story." Pallipurath told authorities he believed church members were blocking his attempts to contact his wife, who had left him three months ago, Crawford said. The prosecutor added that Pallipurath didn't apologize or express remorse for the shootings.

Shooting victim mourned

Friday, November 28, 2008

CLIFTON — Mourners came to say goodbye Thursday to Dennis John Malloosseril, a dynamic young man killed in a church while trying to help a woman allegedly hunted down by her estranged, gun-wielding husband.

Dennis John Malloosseril's mother grieving over his body at a wake last night in Clifton.

The subdued scene Thanksgiving night at St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church on Third Street was in sharp contrast to the chaos that erupted there Sunday when Joseph Mathai Pallipurath of Sacramento, Calif., allegedly opened fire in the vestibule. Pallipurath's wife, Reshma James, 24, was killed along with Malloosseril. Also shot was Silvy Perincheril, 47, who remained in a coma at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson. At Malloosseril's wake Thursday night, a steady stream of people dressed in dark colors were ushered into pews that grew thickly crowded. The congregation alternated between songs in Malayalam and eulogies delivered by cousins, friends, clergy and church youth whose lives were touched by the young man. One young church member remembered vividly all the children going home and practicing a song exactly as Malloosseril had taught them in church.

After each eulogy, songs resumed and mourners filed down the aisle to view the open casket where the young man was laid out. They offered condolences to the man's bereaved parents, who sat in the front pew. In the basement, visitors stopped to admire collages of hundreds of photos of Malloosseril with his friends and cousins. Pallipurath was arrested Tuesday in Georgia after fleeing the church. He will be extradited to Passaic County next week. Malloosseril, who would have turned 26 on Tuesday, tried to intervene when he heard shouting in the entryway during the end of services, according to witnesses. He died a few hours after being shot. Malloosseril grew up in Clifton, moving to Hawthorne 15 years ago with his parents, Abraham and Aley, and his older sister, Lois. He graduated from Hawthorne High School and earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from William Paterson University. He was studying for his M.B.A. at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck.

He was active in his church and was seen as an emerging leader. Around Thanksgiving, Malloosseril always organized teams of young male church members for an annual football game in Clifton, relatives said. "He was the life of our church and our community," one cousin said. "He seized life by the horns. He didn't sit around and wait for things to happen." Malloosseril was described as a guy with a big heart who always put others' needs above his own. Many remarked on his devotion to the church, where he started as an altar boy at age 9. He served on the executive committee for the past two years. St. Thomas, which found a permanent home in Clifton in 2000, is affiliated with the Syrian Orthodox Church. The members of the ancient Knanaya sect are immigrants from the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Malloosseril maintained deep ties to the Knanaya community and was recently elected to be the sports coordinator for the upcoming North American Knanaya Convention.

The news of the killings of Malloosseril and James sent shock waves through the national and international Knanaya community. Archbishop Kuriakose Mor Severios, the church's spiritual leader, arrived from India on Wednesday to lead a memorial service for the victims. James' relatives were preparing to send her body back to India to be buried. Malloosseril's funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, after two evenings of wakes. He will be buried in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus.