N.J. attorney general releases body camera video of woman fatally shot by police
Officers in New Jersey who responded to a mental health call last month told a woman: “We don’t want to shoot you.
Officers in New Jersey who responded to a mental health call last month told a woman: “We don’t want to shoot you. We want to help you.” Moments later, she was fatally shot.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Friday released body camera videos from the July 28 encounter outside an apartment in Fort Lee, where Victoria Lee was fatally shot in the chest by a police officer. The officer, Tony Pickens Jr., was among several from the Fort Lee Police Department to respond to the apartment early that morning, after Lee’s brother called 911 to report his sister was experiencing a mental health episode. In a subsequent call, he told a 911 dispatcher she was in possession of a “foldable” knife.
The videos, from four body-worn cameras, show Lee, 25, moving toward the officers and holding a large water jug before she is shot. The officers shouted at her to “drop the knife,” though it is not clear in the videos if she is holding one.
The attorney general’s office, which is investigating Lee’s killing, said a knife was recovered, but did not address whether Lee was holding it when she encountered police.
Lee’s family has called the police’s response “unnecessarily aggressive” and said Lee was holding only the five-gallon water jug when she was shot. The police department has referred requests for comment to the attorney general’s office. When reached by an NBC News reporter on Friday, Pickens hung up the phone.
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