New Jersey Attorney General releases bodycam video of woman shot by police

Police officers in New Jersey responding to a 911 call about a mental health issue last month told a woman, “We don't want to hurt you. We want to help you.” Moments later, she was shot and killed.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Friday released bodycam video of the July 28 encounter outside a Fort Lee apartment where Victoria Lee was fatally shot in the chest by a police officer. The officer, Tony Pickens Jr., was one of several Fort Lee Police Department officers who responded to the apartment early that morning after Lee's brother called 911 to report that his sister was having a mental illness. In a subsequent call, he told a 911 dispatcher that she was carrying a “folding” knife.

The videos from four body-worn cameras show Lee, 25, walking toward officers holding a large water jug ​​before she is shot. Officers shouted at her to “drop the knife,” although it is not clear from the videos whether she was holding one.

The attorney general's office, which is investigating Lee's murder, said a knife was recovered but did not say whether Lee was carrying it when she encountered police.

Lee's family called the police response “unnecessarily aggressive” and said Lee was only holding the 5-gallon water jug ​​when she was shot. Police have referred requests for comment to the attorney general's office. When reached by an NBC News reporter on Friday, Pickens hung up.

According to bodycam videos, before the shooting, officers repeatedly asked Lee to open the door, told her to go home and at one point threatened to stab an officer if he forced the door down.

Pickens, the first officer to arrive at the apartment door, initially encountered Lee's brother, who told him that Lee was in a bedroom and had a knife, according to bodycam video. Pickens told him that if his sister had a knife, she would hurt someone.

The officer pushed open the apartment door and was met by Lee and her mother, who was holding a barking dog. Lee's mother told the officer several times, “Don't come in.” Lee told him to “shut our damn door” and lock it. Before closing the door, Lee could be seen pointing his finger at Pickens and also telling him not to come in.

While Pickens was talking to Lee's brother outside the apartment door, Lee shouted, according to the videos, “Who told a damn pig like you to open my door?”

Later, several more officers arrived on the scene and told Lee's brother, who stated he did not have a key to open the door, that they needed to enter the apartment.

Pickens told Lee through the door that he was going to break down the door. She replied, “Go ahead. I'm going to stab you in your damn neck.”

She also told the officers, “Shoot me if you want,” to which one officer replied, “We don't want to shoot. We want to help you.” Lee shouted, “Go home, you pig!”

The officers gathered outside the apartment and discussed who would use “lethal” and “less lethal” tactics. Pickens agreed to use “lethal” tactics, according to his body camera video. He then said, “We're going to break down the door, ma'am.” One of the officers said that normally they would “barricade and wait,” but since someone else was in the apartment, they had to go inside.

Pickens yelled, “Open the door!” while other officers shouted, “Drop the gun!” and “We're going to break the door down!” as Pickens broke down the door. When the door opened, Lee and her mother were standing outside the door and Lee was holding a jug of water. It's unclear if she was also holding a knife. The family said she dropped it.

As Lee approached the officers, Pickens fired a single shot. On the bodycam videos, several officers can be heard yelling, “Drop the knife.”

After Lee was shot, officers pulled her into the foyer of the apartment and rendered aid.

She was later confirmed dead in hospital.

In addition to the body camera footage, the attorney general on Friday also released 911 calls from Lee's brother, in which he asked for an ambulance to be sent to take his sister to the hospital. On his second 911 call, the brother asked the dispatcher if he could cancel the call. The dispatcher told him he couldn't because it was a mental health call and said officers would arrive shortly. The dispatcher asked him why he wanted to cancel the call, and he told her that Lee was holding a folding knife but was not trying to cut anyone.

Before the video was released, Lee's family said she was not and had never been violent, including during previous mental health episodes. They also said they had called 911 in the past for mental health issues and that emergency responders were always understanding of her fragile mental state and worked with the family “to help de-escalate the situation and get Victoria to the hospital.”

Henry Sukjin Cho, the family's attorney, declined to comment. He had previously told NBC News that he and Lee's family would review the bodycam videos Friday morning before they were released to the public. Lee was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017 and had managed it through various activities including work, travel and music, her family said.

After the videos were released, Stop AAPI Hate and AAPI New Jersey issued a statement saying the police response was “unjust and unwarranted.”

The organizations said Lee's family repeatedly asked police not to enter the apartment, but officers broke down the door and shot Victoria within seconds without making sufficient efforts to de-escalate the situation and using non-lethal weapons.