The NJ Attorney General has released a video of a woman fatally shot by police

New Jersey officers responding to a mental health call last month told a woman, “We don’t want to hurt you. We want to help you.” Moments later, she was fatally shot.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Friday released body camera video from the July 28 encounter outside a Fort Lee apartment where Victoria Lee was fatally shot in the chest by a police officer. The officer, Tony Pickens Jr., was among several from the Fort Lee Police Department who responded to the apartment early that morning after Lee’s brother called 911 to report that his sister was experiencing an episode of mental health. In a subsequent call, he told a 911 dispatcher that he was in possession of a “folding” knife.

The videos, from four body-worn cameras, show Lee, 25, walking towards officers and holding a large mug of water before she was shot. Officers yelled at her to “drop the knife,” though it’s unclear in the videos if she was holding one.

The attorney general’s office, which is investigating Lee’s murder, said a knife was recovered but did not say whether Lee was holding it when he encountered police.

Lee’s family called the police response “unnecessarily aggressive” and said Lee was only holding the five-gallon water jug ​​when he was shot. The police department referred requests for comment to the attorney general. When reached by an NBC News reporter Friday, Pickens hung up.

Before the shooting, according to body camera videos, officers repeatedly demanded that Lee open the door. She told them to go home and at one point threatened to stab an officer if they broke down the door.

Pickens, the first officer to arrive at the apartment door, initially encountered Lee’s brother, who told him Lee was in a bedroom and had a knife, according to bodycam footage. Pickens told him that if his sister had a knife, she would hurt someone.

The officer pushed open the apartment door and was greeted by Lee and her mother, who was holding a barking dog. Lee’s mother told the officer several times, “Don’t come in.” Lee told him to “shut the f—— our door” and shut it. Before closing the door, Lee can be seen pointing at Pickens and also telling him not to enter.

As Pickens spoke to Lee’s brother outside the apartment door, Lee shouted, “Who told a mother pig like you to open my door?” according to the videos.

Several officers later arrived on the scene and told Lee’s brother, who said he didn’t have a key to open the door, to enter the apartment.

Pickens told Lee through the door that he was going to break down the door. She replied, “Go ahead. I’m going to stab you in the neck.”

She also told the officers, “shoot me if you want,” to which one officer replied, “We don’t want to shoot. We want to help you.” Lee yelled, “Go home, pig!”

The officers gathered outside the apartment and discussed who would “go lethal” and “less lethal.” Pickens agreed to “become lethal,” according to his body camera video. Then he said, “We’re going to break down the door, ma’am.” One of the officers said he would normally “hunker down and wait” but because someone else was in the apartment, he had to gain access.

Pickens yelled, “Open the door,” while other officers yelled, “Drop the gun” and “We’re going to break down the door,” as Pickens broke it down. When the door opened, Lee and her mother were at the door, and Lee was holding a pitcher of water. It is unclear if she was also holding a knife. The family said they had given up on him.

When Lee approached the officers, Pickens fired a single shot. Multiple officers can be heard yelling “Drop the knife” on the body camera videos.

After Lee was shot, officers pulled her into the apartment entrance and rendered aid.

She was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

In addition to the body camera footage, the attorney general on Friday also released Lee’s brother’s 911 calls in which he asked for an ambulance to be sent to bring his sister to the hospital. On the second 911 call, the brother asked the dispatcher if he could cancel the call. The dispatcher told him he couldn’t because it was a mental health call and said officers would be there shortly. The dispatcher asked him why he wanted to cancel the call, and he said Lee was holding a folding knife, but he wasn’t trying to cut anyone.

Before the video was released, Lee’s family said she was not and had never been violent, including during previous mental health episodes. They also said they have made mental health calls to 911 in the past and that the 911 responders always understood her fragile mental state and worked with the family “to facilitate the de-escalation of the situation and transport of Victoria to the hospital.” .

Henry Sukjin Cho, the family’s lawyer, declined to comment. He previously told NBC News that he and Lee’s family will view the body camera videos Friday morning before they are released to the public. Lee was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017 and managed it through various activities, including work, travel and music, her family said.

After the videos were released, Stop AAPI Hate and AAPI New Jersey said in a statement that the police response was “unfair and unjustified.”

The organizations said Lee’s family “repeatedly asked police not to enter the apartment, but officers forced the door open and shot Victoria within seconds without adequate efforts to reduce and prioritize tools non-lethal”.