New Jersey supermarket shooting leaves three dead

At least three people have died in a shooting at a central New Jersey supermarket early Friday, a law enforcement official said.

The person believed to be the shooter is among the dead, a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the shooting took place in a different jurisdiction.

The shooting happened at about 4 a.m. inside a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, Mayor Owen Henry told nj.com. The store was closed at the time and was scheduled to open at 6 a.m.

Two front windows of the store were broken out and two police cars were pulled up near the entrance. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the broken windows, nor was it clear if any non-emergency personnel were still inside the store.

Employees who were in the store at the time of the shooting congregated later in the morning outside a TGI Friday's restaurant in the shopping center.

Police at the scene were keeping onlookers well away from the store. A number of vehicles were in the parking lot outside the supermarket, along with police vehicles.

The store and its parking lot were closed Friday. Pathmark officials had no immediate comment on the shooting.

Old Bridge is a bedroom suburb of about 23,000 about 25 miles from Manhattan but just across the Raritan Bay from Staten Island.

New Jersey Transit closed its nearby park-and-ride lot and told riders that they could park in other park-and-ride lots or could ride the North Jersey Coast rail line.