Suspect In Rutherford New Jersey Synagogue Firebombing In Custody

There will be a news conference this afternoon, but a suspect has been arrested in the firebombing of a Rutherford, New Jersey synagogue.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office will hold a press conference this afternoon, a source confirmed. Rabbi Nosson Schuman told his father he would be at the press conference.

The father, Larry Schuman, said investigators came by Tuesday morning to tell the family of the arrest in the attack earlier this month.

“It was relatively fast,” he said. “It was a fantastic job. It’s not easy to find a perpetrator.”

The rabbi’s wife, Pessy Schuman, said the prosecutor’s office called this morning and that she and her husband would attend the press conference. The couple was out of town at a hotel to get away for a couple days when the call came, she said.

Joy Kurland, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, said she also will be attending the press conference, and believes someone has been apprehended. She said although good news, she said temple leaders need to remain on guard.

"If that's the case we would be extremely relieved that someone has been apprehended in regard to this horrific crime committed,'' she said. "But we still need to be vigilant and live by the mantra that if you see something, say something."

The arrest comes after the prosecutor’s office released a video on Friday of a suspect leaving what appeared to be a Walmart. The prosecutor’s office did not release details of the arrest.

Video released last week showing a person of interest resulted in tips leading to the arrest. In the January 11 incident, Molotov cocktails were thrown at Congregation Beth El and one of them went through a second-floor window of the synagogue’s living quarters, where Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his wife were sleeping. While the rabbi, his wife, 5 children and the rabbi's father all escaped, Rabbi Schuman was burned on his hand as he extinguished the fire.