Chris Sheldon
nj.com
Body-worn camera footage and audio recordings of two 911 calls related to the fatal shooting of a woman by a Fort Lee police officer as she was having a reported mental health crisis were released by the state Attorney General’s office on Friday.
The Attorney General’s Office said in the statement a knife was recovered at the scene after the woman, Victoria G. Lee, 25, of Fort Lee, was shot, but the office did not state if she was holding it at the time of the shooting.
Lee’s family has stated by the time police forced their way into the apartment, Lee had dropped the pocketknife and picked up a 5-gallon water bottle. In the footage released Friday, she could be seen holding the water bottle but it was unclear if she was holding a knife as the video was edited for graphic content.
The recordings and 911 calls were made available online by the Attorney General’s Office (WARNING: The videos and 911 calls in the link contains lethal force and graphic language).
Officers from the Fort Lee Police Department responded to a unit at The Pinnacle apartment complex on Main Street around 1:25 a.m. July 28 after a man twice called 911 reporting that his sister was having a mental health crisis and requested she be taken to Valley Hospital in Paramus, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
During the first 911 call, the dispatcher informed the caller that an ambulance and police officer would be sent, but the man indicated that “just the ambulance” would be fine, to which the dispatcher informed the caller that officers had to be sent for mental health calls for the safety of ambulance personnel, it was stated in the news release.
In a second call to 911, the man requested the call be cancelled, but the dispatcher stated that mental health calls could not be cancelled and that officers would arrive momentarily, officials said. The dispatcher asked the caller why he wanted to cancel the call and the man responded that his sister had a knife.
The dispatcher confirmed that the sister was still in a bedroom in the apartment, informed him again that the officers would be there momentarily, and inquired whether his sister was trying to cut anyone with the knife or was just holding it, authorities said. The caller stated, “She’s just holding it;” describing it as a “foldable” knife.
Fort Lee Police Officer Tony Pickens Jr. spoke to the caller in the building’s hallway, the office said. Pickens then opened the apartment door and observed two females: the caller’s sister, identified as Lee, and Lee’s mother, who was holding a dog. They told the officer not to come in and shut the door. Pickens stood outside knocking on the door, asking the women to open the door as additional officers arrived.
After the occupants did not comply Pickens, speaking through the door, advised that he would have to break the door down to which Victoria Lee replied, “Go ahead, I’ll stab you in the (expletive) neck,” according to the release and video.
After discussion of which officers would be assigned “lethal” and “less lethal” duties, officers breached the door and Lee approached the officers in the hallway as officers shouted, “Drop the knife,” the office said. Pickens fired a single shot, striking Lee in the chest.
Officers provided immediate medical aid and Lee was transported to Englewood Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at approximately 1:58 a.m., investigators said.
Lee’s family said they called 911 that day because she was exhibiting unusual behavior, including rolling on the bed, briefly shouting, and lightly tapping her head against the wall.
Lee was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017 and faced other challenges, her family said. She withdrew from college in 2021. Since then, she managed her mental health condition through work, travel and music, her family said.
The family had called 911 for mental health assistance in the past, when Lee had similar episodes, said attorney Henry Cho.
On those occasions, the 911 responders were understanding, and both the family and responders worked together to de-escalate the situation and transport Lee to the hospital, Cho said.
This time, there was no attempt at de-escalation, said Cho.
“This officer just aggressively kicked the door and knocked the door down and just shot her,” said Cho.
Inside the apartment, Lee’s mother observed that her daughter had dropped the pocketknife, the family said in a statement, adding that unnerved by the banging on the door, Lee picked up a large water bottle and clutched it.
AAPI New Jersey, the Korean-American Association of New Jersey, the Korean Community Center and MinKwon Center for Community Action issued a joint statement after the footage was released, according to CBS News.
“Victoria Lee should be alive today,” the statement read in part, according to CBS News. “The footage and recordings released by the NJ Attorney General’s Office confirm what the Lee family has already shared with the world: that in a matter of minutes, the Fort Lee Police shot and killed Victoria, who was in no way a threat to anyone, as her mother watched helplessly.”
The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice criticized the officers’ response to the incident on Friday as well.
“The actions of Fort Lee police, as depicted in the body camera footage are, frankly, sickening,” the group said in a statement. “It could not be more clear that law enforcement, given their orientation toward using violent force, are the wrong people to respond to someone in mental distress who desperately needs help. Ms. Lee’s brother understood that when he asked for an ambulance to respond, not law enforcement.”
Under state law, the attorney general’s office is required to investigate all police-involved shootings. Evidence gathered from the investigation is presented to a grand jury, which then rules if criminal charges against police are warranted.
Fort Lee police has referred all questions about the incident to the Attorney General’s Office, which stated Friday that “no further information would be released at this time.”
Reporter Jackie Roman contributed to this report.
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