NYPD officer shoots mentally ill man with knife in Queens apartment
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The New York City Police Department has released body camera footage showing the moment an officer shot a mentally ill man who allegedly attacked him with a knife, amid calls from NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani for him to receive mental health treatment instead of criminal charges.
Jabez Chakraborty, 22, wielding a large kitchen knife, attacked officers responding to an emergency call from his family in Queens on Jan. 26, according to the NYPD.
Footage released by the NYPD on Tuesday showed an officer entering the living room of the home where Chakraborty was allegedly brandishing a knife. Officers could be heard trying to deescalate the situation by repeatedly ordering him to “drop the knife,” according to the NYPD, but Chakraborty continued to advance toward the officer.
The footage shows a woman trying to block Chakraborty with her arm, but the woman continued to step forward while carrying the knife. The footage shows the NYPD officer repositioning himself at the entrance of the house and closing the door between himself and the living room.
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Newly released NYPD body camera footage shows an officer shooting a man who was allegedly carrying a knife during an emergency response at a home in Queens. (NYPD)
Chakraborty then walked through the door and stepped toward the officer, knife in hand, according to the NYPD.
The officer fired his gun and hit Chakraborty four times. He was taken to hospital, where he remained in stable but critical condition in intensive care.
The clip, released by the NYPD, begins with a 911 call from a “civilian witness” reporting that Chakraborty was having a mental health issue and was throwing glass at a wall. The caller sought help from the emergency department, not the police, and requested an ambulance so that Chakraborty could be inadvertently taken to the hospital.
The case is being investigated by the Queens District Attorney’s Office, and preliminary reports suggest prosecutors are potentially seeking an indictment for attempted murder.
However, Mamdani said at a press conference on Tuesday that Chakraborty should receive mental health treatment and not face criminal charges.
“As I watch this footage, it becomes clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney, and we are talking about a family who endured pain that no family should have to endure, and an individual who lived with schizophrenia for many years,” the mayor said.
“A person experiencing a mental health issue does not always need to be served primarily or exclusively by a police officer. It is important to us that all options are available,” he added.
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Jabez Chakraborty, 22, allegedly wielded a large kitchen knife and attacked officers responding to the family’s emergency call. (NYPD)
Mamdani said he met with Chakraborty’s family, who criticized him for his initial reaction to the shooting. The mayor said hours after the attack that police “encountered a person wielding a knife” and that he was “grateful to the first responders who put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep our community safe.”
Chakraborty’s family released a statement Wednesday, accusing law enforcement of causing the situation to “rapidly and needlessly escalate.”
“Instead of de-escalating the situation, the officer further escalated the tension by drawing his gun and barking orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute of the NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and nearly died while he had been calmly eating a few minutes earlier.”
The family called on the Queens District Attorney’s Office to “drop the case against our son” and for the NYPD to release additional body camera footage of the incident.
The family argued that police officers should not have responded to calls for medical support.
The NYPD has released body camera video showing the moments leading up to the officer shooting while responding to a mental health crisis. (NYPD)
“Given our experience and that of many other families, we are calling on the Mayor for systems where we can call on non-police responders,” the family wrote. “We call for changes that center the needs of families in the wake of events like this, rather than re-traumatizing them over and over again.”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry told Fox News Digital that the body camera footage “clearly demonstrates that these officers entered an unpredictable, fast-paced and dangerous situation.”
“There was neither time nor space for them to de-escalate before being forced to act,” he added. “They did their job professionally and with restraint under appalling conditions.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the NYPD for comment.
Fox News Digital Landon Mion contributed to this report.
