'They don't deserve to breathe': Family of lawyer shot dead in front of wife by Range Rover carjackers while Christmas shopping at posh mall demand death penalty for killers

  • Dustin Friedland, 30, was shot in the parking garage of The Mall At Short Hills in New Jersey on Sunday night
  • He and wife Jamie had been enjoying a late night Christmas shopping trip
  • They had just returned to their silver Range Rover when two men approached them
  • Local police report that Friedland struggled with the carjackers just before he was shot and they sped away in the car
  • The couple's $80,000 car was recovered in Newark on Monday morning and police are continuing to search for the two carjackers
  • Jamie's uncle, Mark Schare, told Mail Online on Monday that his nephew's killers don't deserve to be spared

By M L Nestel, David Mccormack and Joshua Gardner

PUBLISHED: 01:28 EST, 16 December 2013 | UPDATED: 17:11 EST, 16 December 2013


The family of the man shot dead in full view of his young wife during a violent carjacking at an upscale New Jersey mall on Sunday night today demanded the death penalty for his nephew's killers.

Dustin Friedland, a 30-year-old lawyer from Hoboken, New Jersey, and his wife Jamie Schare Friedland, 27, were returning to their Range Rover in the car park at The Mall At Short Hills when he was fatally shot in the head and his assailants made their getaway in the $80,000 vehicle.

Jamie's uncle, Mark Schare, told Mail Online on Monday that he is certain Dustin would have turned over the keys to his Range Rover to the carjackers to avoid any sort of confrontation.

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Dustin Friedland, 30, was returning with his wife Jamie to their Range Rover at The Mall At Short Hills on Sunday night when he was fatally shot

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The couple's silver Range Rover was recovered in Newark on Monday morning and police are continuing to search for the two carjackers

'I know him and he wouldn't resist,' Mark Schare told Mail Online. 'It’s not his nature. I know he wouldn't put up a fight.'

However reports emerging from local police are that Friedland did apparently struggle with his attackers shortly before his death, reports The Star-Ledger.

After shopping, the couple returned to their vehicle.

 

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Friedland had opened the front door of the Range Rover for his wife, and was trying to enter the vehicle himself when he was approached by the two carjackers.

A struggle ensued, and several shots were fired, including the one that killed Friedland. Investigators believe the shooter used a handgun.

One of the attackers then entered the vehicle and ordered Friedland's wife out of the car at gunpoint.

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Friedland and his wife Jamie, who married in 2011, had been out shopping and were returning to their vehicle when they were confronted by two men who shot him

The two assailants then fled in the 2012 silver Range Rover. It was followed by a speeding green Subaru that authorities said may have been the vehicle that brought the robbers there.

Mourning uncle Schare told Mail Online that whatever happens to bring the killers to justice, it won't bring back his nephew.

'It helps bring a conclusion but it's not going to take away the void.'

Instead, Friedland's uncle said the killer doesn't deserve to be spared.

 

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'I hope they catch him and kill him.

'I'm not a violent person but this criminal doesn't deserve to breathe.'

Schare said he last saw Dustin Friedland at Thanksgiving when he and his wife seemed 'in good spirits.'

'They were starting a life together and they had a bright future. He loved my niece and took good care of her and was a very attentive and very good guy. Everybody liked him. I never heard a nasty thing come out of his mouth.'

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Dustin Friedland, pictured with wife Jamie, was an intellectual property lawyer who had attended Syracuse University College of Law and Bucknell University

Despite earning his law degree and practicing - Schare said Friedland had selflessly decided to partner with his father's business.

'He studied as a lawyer but he wanted to help her father and work with him.

'That's him,' he said. 'That's the person he was.'

According to his LinkedIn social media profile, Friedland was a project manager who analyzed legal claims at a Neptune, New Jersey, contracting firm, Epic Mechanical, which is owned by his father, Wayne.

Records show the Range Rover was registered to the company.

Friedland and his wife had met while both law students at Syracuse University and had married in October 2011.

The couple were described as madly in love and planning to have their first kid, the wife's boss, Adam Leitman Bailey told The Daily News.

'She would just lighten up when he would walk in the room. She was so happy to be married,' said Bailey.

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The couple's 2012 silver Range Rover was recovered in the southern part of Newark on Monday and authorities are still looking for the two men who shot Dustin Friedland

The silver Range Rover was recovered in the southern part of Newark on Monday morning and authorities are still looking for the two men.

‘We do not know why that car (was targeted), but it obviously was a car with some value,’ said Murray.

A local anti-crime organization is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to their arrest and conviction.

The thugs who shot and killed Friedland may be part of a stolen-car ring that’s targeted the tri-state area in recent months, according to law-enforcement officials.

An disclosed source told the New York Post that they weren’t surprised that the car had been ditched. He added that it was ‘rare for a carjacking to end with shots fired and killing someone. This is a violent crew.’

The shooting occurred at about 9:10 p.m. and the New Jersey man was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. His wife was unharmed, although she was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

The posh shopping mall includes 160-stores and restaurants and is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Macy's and Bloomingdale's. Other tenants include Cartier, Chanel, Tiffany & Co, and Gucci. It was open for extended holiday shopping hours on Sunday.

Horrific: A man was rushed to a New Jersey hospital Sunday evening after he was shot in the head during an apparent carjacking in the parking garage of an upscale shopping mall

Horrific: Friedland was rushed to a New Jersey hospital on Sunday evening after he was shot in the head during an apparent carjacking in the parking garage of an upscale shopping mall

Panicked authorities briefly placed the mall on lockdown, which lasted for 30 minutes. Some shoppers could even hear the terrifying ordeal as it occurred on the garage’s third floor near Nordstrom.

Witness Robert Newman, 55, told the Star-Ledger he heard two gunshots at about 8:30 pm, and then saw a vehicle - though not the victim’s Range Rover - speed away.

‘The Subaru went out of here at about 100 miles per hour,’ said Newman, who described the vehicle as green. It was unclear if the Subaru he saw was connected to the crime.

Another man who was in the mall and working in one of its restaurants said he heard multiple shots as well.

‘The table in the back stood up really fast,’ the restaurant worker told CBS New York. ‘They started panicking. I peeked my head out of this door right here, and I heard a lady screaming on the top of her lungs, screaming some name.’

Millburn Mayor Sandra Haimoff said the shooting was of grave concern, reports NJ.com.

'Our police department is out there and I’m sure they’re doing everything that needs to be done. But it is upsetting and it’s unfortunate that this happened,' she said.

  • Anyone with information regarding the shooting or the whereabouts of the suspects is urged to call the tips line at (877) 847-7432.
Unthinkable: The shocking crime occurred on the third level of the parking garage at the posh Mall at Short Hills near Millburn, New Jersey around 9pm

Unthinkable: The shocking crime occurred on the third level of the parking garage at the posh Mall at Short Hills near Millburn, New Jersey around 9pm

Posh: The high end mall is anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Bloomingdale's

Posh: The high end mall is anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Bloomingdale's


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I have no bias. I just was wondering what race the killers were. No reason. Just for information purposes.

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"If I had a son, he would look like..." - B. Obama

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If only Obama had given them a free Range Rover of their own...

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Who kills people for their shoes? or their headphones? or their car? or because you didn't have enough money on you when they robbed you?

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When there is no photos of the suspects, there doesn't need to be any. We are not stupid and know what that means!

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Get rid of them.

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if only he had a gun in his car so the two groups could fire back and forth and probably kill a bystander or his wife as well. That would have been so much better. You think having more guns around is going to reduce crime? You must be a product of American education.

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You've never fired a gun, have you?

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@wordsworthbloke I have to hand it to you for your consistency....your posts are almost always the exact, precise opposite of the demonstrable, easily- provable truth. The fact that someone can be as breathtakingly uninformed as yourself yet continually spout off as though he knows anything at all is a testament to Socialist education. Bravo! ;-)

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this is very sad. what a sweet looking happy young couple. not the time to take political pot shots people. the poor lady and all the family. horrifying to think of. why not stop and think of how precious life is and go hug someone.

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put money on them having names such as tyreese or Tyrella.

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More guns = less people dying from guns....... You people really are a great advert for education in your wasteland of a Country.

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