Jersey City authorities say 52-year-old Andrew Jerome Washington, who was fatally shot by police on Sunday, charged at the officers with a knife before they used a taser and a firearm. City officials say his death is tragic, but they maintain the police officers followed proper protocol.
“I think we failed on multiple fronts because we failed to provide the Jersey City police department with everything that would have been necessary to not see this event happen,” Jersey City Councilman Frank Gilmore said. “And then subsequently we failed the community of mentally impaired or mentally disturbed people by not providing services that they need.”
In a similar incident earlier this year, Najee Seabrooks, a 31-year-old violence intervention activist, was shot and killed by Paterson police during a mental health crisis.
“Obviously this is not just a problem in Jersey City,” Robyn Gorman, the chief executive officer for the Hudson Partnership Care Management Organization, said. “We really need to have a better approach to this. These situations should not end in a death.”
Family and community members are waiting for body-camera footage to be released so they can better understand what happened. An investigation by the state attorney general’s office is ongoing.
