New Jersey woman shot dead by police during “mental health crisis,” says Attorney General

Police in Fort Lee, New Jersey, shot and killed a woman suffering from a mental health crisis on Sunday, the state attorney general’s office said.

The woman’s identity has not been released publicly. The incident is currently under investigation.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Fort Lee police officers responded to a home around 1:25 a.m. Sunday after a man called 911 and said his sister was having a mental health crisis and needed to go to the hospital. The man said she had a knife in her hand, the Attorney General’s Office said.

In the hallway outside the apartment, the man who had called 911 spoke to a police officer who answered. At that moment, the officer opened the door to the apartment and saw two women inside, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The two women, one of whom was presumably the sister of the 911 caller, “told the police officer not to come in and to close the door,” the Attorney General’s office said.

The officer knocked on the door and asked the women to open it, but they did not comply, the statement said. Then more officers arrived and broke down the door.

The sister then “walked toward the officers in the hallway,” whereupon one of the officers “fired a single shot, hitting the woman in the chest,” according to the Attorney General’s Office.

It is unclear whether the woman was holding a knife in her hand when she approached the officers, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Officers then began providing medical care to the woman and took her to the hospital, officials said.

At 1:58 a.m. her death was confirmed in the hospital.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that a knife was seized at the crime scene.

All deaths that occur during encounters with police must be investigated by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.