In a dramatic turn of events, the New York City Police Department has made public body camera footage capturing the intense moment when an officer shot a man, reportedly suffering from mental illness, who advanced on him with a knife. This incident has reignited discussions, led by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, advocating for mental health treatment in lieu of criminal charges in such situations.
The incident took place on January 26, when 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was seen wielding a substantial kitchen knife and charging at police officers responding to a distress call from his family in Queens, as per the NYPD’s account.
The footage, unveiled by the NYPD on Tuesday, depicts officers entering the living room of the residence. Chakraborty is allegedly seen holding a knife. Despite the officers’ attempts to de-escalate the situation, repeatedly urging him to “put the knife down,” Chakraborty continued to advance toward them.
At one point, the video shows a woman trying to intervene by extending her arm to block Chakraborty, but he persisted in moving forward, knife in hand. The officer can be seen strategically repositioning himself in the home’s vestibule and shutting the door to create a barrier between himself and the potential threat.
The footage further reveals the tense moment when Chakraborty reportedly forced open the door and moved toward the officer, knife raised, prompting the officer’s defensive response.
This incident, as depicted in the footage, underscores the challenges faced by law enforcement in handling situations involving mental health crises and has sparked renewed calls for systemic changes in addressing such emergencies.
The officer discharged his weapon, hitting Chakraborty four times. He was taken to the hospital, where he remains in intensive care in stable but critical condition.
The clip released by the NYPD begins with audio of a 911 call from “a civilian witness” reporting that Chakraborty was experiencing a mental health episode and had thrown a glass against the wall. The caller requested EMS, not police, asking for an ambulance so that Chakraborty could be taken involuntarily to the hospital.
The incident is being investigated by the Queens District Attorney’s office, with preliminary reports suggesting prosecutors are looking at potentially seeking an indictment for attempted murder.
Mamdani, however, said at a news conference on Tuesday that Chakraborty should receive mental health treatment and not face criminal charges.
“In viewing this footage, it is 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 that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should and an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” the mayor said.
“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available,” he added.
Jabez Chakraborty, 22, was allegedly holding a large kitchen knife and charged at the officers who responded to the emergency call from the family. (NYPD)
Mamdani said he met with Chakraborty’s family, who had criticized him for his initial response to the shooting. The mayor said hours after the shooting that police had “encountered an individual wielding a knife,” and that he was “grateful to the first responders who put themselves on the line each day to keep our communities safe.”
Chakraborty’s family released a statement Wednesday accusing law enforcement of causing the situation to “escalate quickly and unnecessarily.”
“Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute of NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and almost killed, while he was calmly eating food just minutes earlier.”
The family called on the Queens DA’s office to “drop the prosecution against our son,” and for the NYPD to release additional body camera footage from the incident.
The family argued that police officers should not be responding to medical support calls.
The NYPD released bodycam video showing the moments leading up to a police shooting during a mental health crisis response. (NYPD)
“Given our experience, and that of many other families, we call on the Mayor for systems where we can call for responders who are not police,” the family wrote. “We call for changes where the needs of families in the aftermath of such incidents are centered rather than further traumatized over and over.”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the body camera footage “makes it clear that these police officers walked into an unpredictable, fast-moving and dangerous situation.”
“There was no time or space for them to de-escalate the situation before they were forced to act,” he added. “They did their job professionally and with restraint under terrible circumstances.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the NYPD for comment.
