Officers in New Jersey responded to a mental health call in July and ended up fatally shooting a woman, Victoria Lee, who was experiencing a mental health crisis. Body camera videos released by the New Jersey Attorney General show the encounter outside an apartment in Fort Lee, where Lee was shot in the chest by a police officer named Tony Pickens Jr. Lee’s family has criticized the police response, claiming she was holding only a water jug and not a knife as the officers believed. The police department has deferred comment to the attorney general’s office, who is investigating the incident.
The videos show Lee moving towards the officers with the water jug before being shot. Prior to the shooting, officers repeatedly demanded that Lee open the door, but she refused. When Pickens arrived at the apartment’s door, Lee’s brother informed him that she had a knife, escalating tensions. Lee threatened to stab an officer, prompting Pickens to break the door down. Despite officers telling her not to come in and threatening to break the door down, Lee persisted and was shot by an officer.
Stop AAPI Hate and AAPI New Jersey have condemned the police response as unjust and unwarranted, criticizing the lack of de-escalation efforts and non-lethal measures used during the encounter. Lee’s family has stated that she had never been violent during previous mental health episodes, and the 911 responders had always worked with the family to de-escalate situations. Lee, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017, was managing her condition through various activities before the tragic incident.
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