U.S. District Judge Esther Salas was with her son Daniel in the basement of their New Jersey home cleaning up after a weekend gathering to celebrate his 20th birthday when the doorbell rang. Daniel and his father went upstairs to answer the door when they were shot by a man disguised as a FedEx driver.

"Daniel and I went downstairs to the basement, and we were chatting, as we always do. And Daniel said, 'Mom, let's keep talking, I love talking to you, Mom.' It was at that exact moment that the doorbell rang, and Daniel looked at me and said, 'Who is that?'" Salas said. "And before I could say a word, he sprinted upstairs. Within seconds, I heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming, 'No!'"

Daniel was killed, while his father, Mark Anderl, survived despite being shot three times. He remains hospitalized.

"While my husband is still in the hospital recovering from multiple surgeries, we are living every parent's worst nightmare -- making preparations to bury our only child, Daniel."

Salas said that she does not want other families to experience the grief that she and her husband are experiencing.

"My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure. And I am here asking everyone to help me ensure that no one ever has to experience this kind of pain. 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."

She said that judges' personal information is readily available online and is being sold to people with criminal intent.

"Currently, federal judges' addresses and other information is readily available on the Internet. In addition, there are companies that will sell your personal details that can be leveraged for nefarious purposes," Salas said. "In my case, this monster knew where I lived and what church we attended and had a complete dossier on me and my family. At the moment, there is nothing we can do to stop it, and that is unacceptable."

The suspect, believed to be Roy Den Hollander, was found dead a few hours later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He is also suspected of killing an attorney in California. Officials have not determined a motive for the killings.

Photo: YouTube/Esther Salas

Local News