Newly released police bodycam footage shows the chaotic moments leading up to the officer-involved shooting of Victoria Lee, a New Jersey woman who was killed after her brother called 911 asking for help.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Friday also released a pair of emergency calls made by Lee’s brother, Chris, in the early hours of July 28.
In the first, Chris can be heard telling dispatchers that his sister, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was experiencing a mental health crisis. Near the end of the call, he’s told that police and an ambulance would be sent to their apartment complex in Fort Lee. Chris asks that “just an ambulance” be sent, but the dispatcher says they’re required to send an officer for the medics’ safety.
Chris calls again a short time later, requesting to cancel — but the dispatcher says they cannot cancel mental health calls. At that point he says his sister has a small pocket knife, but notes she was not threatening anyone with it.
“She’s just holding the knife,” he said, adding that it was “foldable.”
Fort Lee police officer Tony Pickens Jr. was the first to arrive at the apartment complex on Main Street. Bodycam footage shows him speaking with Lee’s brother outside, where he explains his sister is the one experiencing issues.
A woman, identified by the attorney general’s office as Lee’s mother, then opens the door, a barking dog at her side.
“Close the f—ing door,” Lee says in the background before reaching in front of her mother and doing it herself.
Shortly after, additional officers arrive on the scene.
“I’m going to break the door down,” Pickens warns.
Lee responds: “Go ahead. I’m going to stab you” in the neck.”
“Shoot me if you want,” she tells them.
“We don’t want to shoot you,” another officer says. “We want to talk to you.”
Less than a minute later, officers breach the door and force their way inside the apartment. Bodycam footage shows Lee, who is holding a large blue water bottle, and her mother standing in the doorway.
As Lee moves toward them, officers tell her to drop the knife before Pickens fires off a single shot.
Lee was struck in the chest and declared dead at Englewood Hospital some 30 minutes later.
The attorney general’s office said a knife was recovered from the scene, but did not address whether Lee was holding it when she encountered police. Her family has said she dropped the weapon before police burst into their home, and dubbed their response “unnecessarily aggressive.”
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.