Editor’s note: The video above contains graphic footage of a fatal shooting.
State authorities on Friday released the body camera footage of the police shooting in Fort Lee in July that left 25-year-old Victoria Lee dead.
The five videos, made public by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, show Fort Lee officers responding to the mental health call knocking on the door and asking Lee and her mother to open it. The officers then discuss among each other who will be assigned “lethal” and “less lethal” duties, before yelling through the door that they will break it down. Lee is then heard threatening to stab officers in the neck.
One officer, who was previously shown taking a “lethal” assignment, then begins trying to bust the door open. When the door does open, Lee is seen approaching the officers with a large water jug in her hand. Officers are heard shouting “drop the knife” before firing a single shot, striking Lee in the chest. Lee’s mother is seen watching the incident unfold.
The attorney general’s office also released two 911 calls made that day by Lee’s brother. In the first, the brother requests help for his sister who was having a mental health crisis. In the second call, he asks to cancel the request. An operator states mental health calls can’t be canceled, and asks for his reason. The man responds that his sister has a knife.
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing, officials said.
A group of local Asian American advocacy groups — AAPI New Jersey, Korean American Association of New Jersey, Korean Community Center, and MinKwon Center for Community Action — issued a joint statement on Friday in response to the footage, urging the attorney general’s office to complete a full investigation and calling on the Murphy administration and state lawmakers to do more to expand mental health care for people in crisis.
“Our state must invest more in culturally competent mental health services and alternatives to the law enforcement responses that have too often ended the lives of those they should have protected,” the joint statement reads.
“For many reasons, it can be challenging for Asian Americans to access mental health support. We are deeply concerned about the impact of this incident and other such devastating incidents on the willingness of Asian Americans to seek medical care when they need it.”
