A state grand jury will not file criminal charges against the Jersey City police officers involved in the 2023 fatal shooting of Andrew Washington. Last year, Washington’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city for the department’s response to Washington’s mental health crisis, alleging officers failed to de-escalate the situation.
The family said that they called a mental health hotline while Washington was in the throes of a mental health crisis, asking for an ambulance. Instead, police arrived and knocked down the door. In body camera footage, Washington is seen rushing toward the officers with a knife before they simultaneously taser him and fire three gunshots.
In a statement, the Washington family’s attorney Amelia Green said, “We are disappointed by the grand jury’s decision. We must be clear, however — this is not an exoneration of the officers who killed Andrew Washington… The grand jury’s decision only makes the family’s civil rights lawsuit all the more important in holding Jersey City Police Department accountable for Drew’s death.”
In the years since the shooting, Jersey City has opened a de-escalation training center for officers and the state has put new laws in place bearing Washington’s name to support more community crisis response teams.
