Body cameras show New Jersey police fatally shooting Victoria Lee : NPR

Moments before a police officer fatally shot 25-year-old Victoria G. Lee in Fort Lee, N.J., body camera footage shows a group of officers yelling out “Drop the knife!” as Lee throws a large water jug at them. Then, a gunshot is fired.

On Friday, the New Jersey attorney general’s office, which is investigating the shooting, released Taser video, body camera footage from four officers, and two 911 recordings from July 28.

It comes after weeks of public outrage over how a 911 call seeking medical help for Lee — who family said was experiencing a mental health crisis — turned deadly within minutes after police arrived.

The shooting took place in a New Jersey city with a large Asian American and Korean population. On Saturday, the Fort Lee Police Department did not respond to requests about the employment status of the officer who fired the fatal shot, Tony Pickens Jr.

The footage and call recordings shed light on the family’s repeated efforts to prevent escalation. In a second 911 call, Lee’s brother told emergency responders that he wanted to cancel his request to send help because his sister was holding a foldable knife. At the scene, body-camera footage showed Lee’s mother begging officers not to come inside as Lee became visibly more upset.

Lee’s family was not able to be reached for comment on Saturday. But in a statement written earlier this month provided by their attorney, the family said, “The pain and grief our family is experiencing are beyond words. Victoria was a bright and loving individual with a promising future, and her untimely death has left a void that can never be filled.”

According to Lee’s family, Lee had bipolar disorder, which she had been managing through work, traveling and playing music. On the night of her death, she was demonstrating odd behavior, like shouting and rolling on the bed, which led her mother to suggest Lee seek medical help. The family added that Lee was never a violent person, even in previous episodes of mental distress.

According to them, the presence of police upset Lee, and when officers arrived, they did not consult with the family about the safest course of action and handled the situation aggressively.

What the 911 call recordings reveal

Lee’s brother made two 911 calls after 1 a.m. on July 28. In the first call, Lee’s brother tells the dispatcher that his sister was having a “mental crisis” and his family wanted to take her to the hospital, according to the recordings, which are partially bleeped out. The dispatcher replies that they would send over an ambulance and officers.

“Um, just an ambulance is fine,” he says.

“It’s a mental health — we have to send officers also. For the safety of the ambulance,” the dispatcher says.

In a second call to 911, Lee’s brother asks to call off the request for help. The dispatcher says mental health calls cannot be canceled and officers would be there shortly. When asked why he wanted to cancel, Lee’s brother responds that his sister was holding a knife inside the apartment.

Lee later tells the dispatcher that the knife is a “foldable knife” and his sister was not threatening anyone with it.

What the body-camera footage shows

Pickens was the first to arrive at the apartment complex around 1:25 a.m., according to body camera footage. Outside the apartment unit, Pickens asks Lee’s brother, “Who has the knife?” and “Who’s dealing with a mental health crisis? Who’s having a nervous breakdown right now?”

Lee’s brother answers that it’s his sister while blocking the front door. Pickens moves Lee’s brother to the side, adding that someone could get hurt by Lee. When Pickens opens the door, Lee’s mother replies, “Don’t come in,” while holding a barking dog. Lee also tells Pickens, “Close the f***ing door,” and then shuts the door.

Lee’s brother tells Pickens that his mother is putting the dog away. But Pickens continues to knock. Additional officers arrive. Later, Pickens yells, “I’m gonna break the door down.”

“Go ahead, and I’ll stab you in the f***ing neck,” Lee says. “Shoot me if you want to.”

“We don’t want to shoot you,” another officer replies. “We want to talk to you.”

That’s when officers prepare a plan to break the door down. An officer says that they would typically wait, but because there was another person with Lee, they had to go in. Pickens starts slamming into the door and an officer warns the Lee family that they are breaking in.

When the door opens, Lee’s mother can be seen holding Lee’s left hand back. Officers can be heard yelling “drop the knife.”

Lee flings a large plastic jug of water using her other hand and steps forward. Before she walks out of the apartment, Pickens fires a shot into Lee’s chest. She falls to the ground as her mother cries and holds Lee. Pickens and officers pull Lee out into the hallway and attempt to stop the bleeding using towels.

Her mother asks in Korean if Lee will be OK, and then says in English to the officers, “please, please.” At one point, Lee yells, “I can’t breathe.”

Taser video showed a small pocketknife on the hallway floor after Lee was shot. She was later transported to Englewood Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:58 a.m.

Nationally, police officers killed over 800 people this year

Despite years of activism and reform, police officers in the U.S. have killed over 1,000 people every year for the past decade, according to Mapping Police Violence project, which tracks police killings. This year, law enforcement officers have killed over 800 people.

Lee’s death comes three months after the police killing of 40-year-old Yong Yang, who was shot multiple times during a bipolar episode in Koreatown in Los Angeles.

In late June, an officer in upstate New York fatally shot Nyah Mway, 13, a Karen refugee from Myanmar, who was holding a pellet gun during a police chase. He had graduated middle school a few days earlier.