NYPD officer shoots mentally ill man with knife in Queens apartment

The New York Metropolis Police Division has launched physique digicam footage displaying an officer taking pictures a mentally unwell man who allegedly charged him with a knife amid calls from Mayor Zohran Mamdani for psychological well being therapy as a substitute of legal fees.

Jabez Chakraborty, 22, held a big kitchen knife and attacked officers responding to a 911 name from his household in Queens on Jan. 26, the NYPD stated.

The footage, launched by the NYPD on Tuesday, exhibits an officer getting into the lounge of the house, the place Chakraborty allegedly brandished a knife. Officers are heard attempting to de-escalate the state of affairs, repeatedly ordering him to “put the knife down,” however Chakraborty continued strolling towards the officer, the NYPD stated.

The footage exhibits a girl attempting to dam Chakraborty together with her arm, however he continued to step ahead whereas carrying the knife. The footage exhibits the NYPD officer transferring himself into the vestibule of the home and shutting the door between himself and the lounge.

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Newly launched bodycam footage from the NYPD exhibits an officer taking pictures a person allegedly carrying a knife throughout an emergency response to a Queens house. (NYPD)

In response to the NYPD, Chakraborty then pushed by the door and approached the officer with the knife.

The officer fired his weapon, hitting Chakraborty 4 occasions. He was taken to hospital, the place he’s in secure however crucial situation in intensive care.

The clip launched by the NYPD begins with audio of a 911 name from “a citizen witness” reporting that Chakraborty was experiencing a psychological episode and had thrown a glass in opposition to the wall. The caller requested for paramedics, not police, and requested an ambulance in order that Chakraborty may very well be involuntarily taken to the hospital.

The incident is beneath investigation by the Queens District Lawyer’s Workplace, with preliminary stories suggesting prosecutors could also be contemplating an tried homicide cost.

Nonetheless, Mamdani stated at a press convention on Tuesday that Chakraborty ought to obtain psychological well being therapy and never face legal fees.

“In viewing these photos, it turns into clear to me that what Jabez wants is psychological well being therapy, not legal fees by a prosecutor. We’re speaking a couple of household that endures the sort of ache that no household ought to need to endure and a person who has lived with schizophrenia for a few years,” the mayor stated.

“Somebody experiencing a psychiatric episode doesn’t all the time have to be helped first or solely by a police officer. It is crucial that now we have all out there choices,” he added.

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Jabez Chakraborty, 22, allegedly held a big kitchen knife and attacked officers who responded to the household’s emergency name. (NYPD)

Mamdani stated he met with Chakraborty’s household, who criticized him for his preliminary response to the taking pictures. The mayor stated hours after the taking pictures that police had “encountered a person wielding a knife” and that he was “grateful to the primary responders who put themselves on the road on daily basis to maintain our communities secure.”

Chakraborty’s household launched an announcement on Wednesday accusing regulation enforcement of “rapidly and unnecessarily escalating the state of affairs.”

“As a substitute of de-escalating the state of affairs, the officer escalated additional by pulling his weapon and shouting instructions at Jabez,” the household wrote. “Inside a minute of the NYPD arriving, Jabez was shot a number of occasions and practically killed, whereas he was quietly consuming a couple of minutes earlier.”

The household known as on the Queens district lawyer’s workplace to “drop fees in opposition to our son” and the NYPD to launch further physique digicam footage of the incident.

The household argued that cops shouldn’t reply to medical requires assist.

The NYPD has launched bodycam video displaying the moments main as much as a police taking pictures throughout a response to a psychological well being disaster. (NYPD)

“Given our expertise, and that of many different households, we enchantment to the mayor for techniques by which we will summon non-police responders,” the household wrote. “We’re calling for adjustments that middle the wants of households within the aftermath of such incidents, somewhat than being re-traumatized.”

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Affiliation, stated in an announcement to Fox Information Digital that the physique digicam footage “makes it clear that these cops had been positioned in an unpredictable, fast-paced and harmful state of affairs.”

“There was no time or house for them to de-escalate the state of affairs earlier than they had been compelled into motion,” he added. “They did their job professionally and with restraint beneath appalling circumstances.”

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Fox Information Digital has contacted the NYPD for remark.

Fox Information Digital Landon Mion contributed to this report.