The family of a 25-year-old New Jersey woman who was shot and killed by a police officer in her apartment last month plans to review body camera footage Friday from the morning she was killed.
Victoria Lee was shot in the chest and killed by police responding to a mental health crisis call at her home in Fort Lee, across the Hudson River from New York, on July 28. Her family said the killing occurred even though her brother had called 911 twice to request an ambulance to take Lee to the hospital, and had provided details of her mental condition to dispatchers out of concern that police would unnecessarily escalate the situation. A statement from the family said Lee was only holding a plastic water jug and was unarmed when she was shot.
“However, the police’s unnecessarily aggressive approach led to the tragic and heartbreaking death of Victoria Lee,” they said.
Attorney Henry Suk-jin Cho speaks during a press conference on Tuesday about the shooting death of Victoria G. Lee. Anne Marie Caruso/USA Today Network
According to her family, Li was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017, which caused her to leave university early, but she managed her symptoms through a variety of activities, including work, travel and music.
Before her family sought help, she had been going through a “mentally unstable” period and had been exhibiting “bizarre behaviour, including rolling around in bed, screaming briefly twice and banging her head against the wall”, the family said in a statement. They said they had previously called emergency services seeking psychological help when Ms Lee had similar symptoms.
On the day Lee was killed, after a 911 dispatcher learned from his brother that police needed to accompany an ambulance to the home, Lee became upset and grabbed a small folding pocket knife he normally uses to open packages, his family said.
The family said her brother called 911 a second time in response to recent police shootings, informing dispatchers about Lee’s pocket knife, emphasizing that it was small, and asking that police not enter the apartment. Police were required to respond to mental health calls, the family said.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who is investigating Lee’s murder under the law, said in a statement that Fort Lee Police officers responded to an apartment home around 1:25 a.m. after a man called 911 to report his sister was in a mental health crisis and needed to be taken to a hospital. The caller told dispatchers that the sister had a knife, the statement said. When officers arrived, they first spoke with Lee’s brother in the hallway outside the apartment, then opened the door to see Lee and another woman who Lee’s family said was her mother, the attorney general’s statement said.
They told officers not to come inside and close the door, according to the statement. The family says when officers opened the door, the family’s dog started barking, so Lee’s mother closed the door and went to put the dog in a cage. Officers knocked on the door and asked Lee and her mother to open the door when other officers arrived, but when they didn’t, the officers broke down the door and entered the home, according to the attorney general’s statement.
As Lee approached officers in a hallway, Officer Tony Pickens Jr. fired one shot, striking her in the chest, according to the attorney general’s statement. Officers provided medical treatment and Lee was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:58 a.m., the statement said. A knife was found at the scene, it added, but did not say whether police saw her holding a knife. The Fort Lee Police Department referred questions to the attorney general’s office. Pickens did not respond to a request for comment.
According to a statement from Lee’s family, as police tried to break down the door, her mother grabbed the door handle and repeatedly yelled, “Don’t come in!” The family said Lee dropped her pocket knife before police entered the home. Alarmed by the pounding on the door, her mother picked up a five-gallon container of water and “held it in a non-threatening manner.” Gunshots rang out almost instantly after the door was opened, the family said.
The family declined an interview request and referred NBC News to an attorney to provide additional comment on the family’s behalf.
Lee’s family said she had called 911 for mental health issues in the past, and “911 responders were always aware of her unstable mental state. The family and 911 responders worked together to help calm the situation and transport Victoria to the hospital.” The family said Lee had never been violent, including due to her past mental health issues, and had never been violent.
The Lee family said that given their previous interactions with 911 emergency personnel, they fully trusted and followed the instructions of the police officers on July 28.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the family’s lawyer, Henry Suk-jin Cho, said Lee was innocent.
“Victoria was a loved one with a bright future ahead of her and our heartbreak at her loss is immeasurable,” Cho said. “The Lee family seeks justice and is committed to ensuring the full truth about this tragic incident is revealed.”
