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The New York City Police Department released body camera footage showing the moment an officer allegedly shot a mentally ill man with a knife amid calls from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for mental health treatment instead of criminal charges.
Jabez Chakraborty, 22, was holding a large kitchen knife and attacked officers responding to an emergency call from his family in Queens on Jan. 26, according to the NYPD.
The footage, released by the NYPD on Tuesday, shows an officer entering the living room of the home, where Chakraborty was allegedly brandishing a knife. Officers can be heard attempting to calm the situation, repeatedly ordering him to “put down the knife,” but Chakraborty continued to advance toward the officer, according to the NYPD.
In the footage, a woman is seen trying to block Chakraborty with her arm, but he continued to step forward while carrying the knife. Footage shows the NYPD officer repositioning himself in the foyer of the home and closing the door between him 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 inside a Queens home. (NYPD)
According to the NYPD, Chakraborty walked through the door and approached the officer with the knife.
The officer discharged his weapon, striking Chakraborty four times. He was taken to 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 emergency medical services, not police, asking for an ambulance so Chakraborty could be involuntarily taken to the hospital.
The incident is being investigated by the Queens district attorney’s office, and preliminary reports suggest prosecutors are considering filing an attempted murder charge.
Mamdani, however, said at a news conference on Tuesday that Chakraborty should receive mental health treatment and not face criminal charges.
“As I saw these images, it became clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not a criminal prosecution by a district attorney, and we are talking about a family that is enduring the type of pain that no family should and an individual who has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” the mayor said.
“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be treated first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all options available,” he added.
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Jabez Chakraborty, 22, was allegedly holding a large kitchen knife and attacked officers who responded to the family’s emergency call. (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 “found an individual wielding a knife” and that he was “grateful to the first responders who put themselves at risk every day to keep our communities safe.”
Chakraborty’s family issued a statement Wednesday accusing law enforcement of causing the situation to “rapidly and unnecessarily escalate.”
“Instead of calming the situation, the officer made it even worse by pulling out his gun and yelling commands at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute after the NYPD arrived, Jabez was shot several times and nearly killed, while he was calmly eating a few minutes earlier.”
The family asked the Queens district attorney’s office to “drop the prosecution against our son” and for the NYPD to release additional body camera footage of the incident.
The family argued that police officers should not respond to calls for medical assistance.
The NYPD released body camera video showing the moments leading up to a police shooting during a response to a mental health crisis. (NYPD)
“Given our experience and that of many other families, we ask the mayor for systems where we can call non-police first responders,” the family wrote. “We call for changes that center the needs of families after such incidents, rather than traumatizing them again and again.”
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 entered an unpredictable, rapid and dangerous situation.”
“There was no time or space for them to calm the situation before being forced to act,” he added. “They did their job with professionalism and restraint under terrible circumstances.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the NYPD for comment.
Fox News Digital Landon Mion contributed to this report.