Fort Lee officer fatally shoots woman while responding to mental health call: NJ AG

FORT LEE, N.J. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — An officer with the Fort Lee Police Department shot and killed a woman while responding to a call reporting a mental health crisis early Sunday morning, and the office of New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is investigating.

Officers responded to a home in “The Pinnacle” apartment complex, located in the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge at 69 Main St., after a man called 911 to report that his sister was having a mental health crisis. He said that she had a knife and needed to go to the hospital, according to a preliminary investigation by the attorney general’s office.

Once at the scene, an officer spoke with the 911 caller in the building hallway before opening the apartment door. Inside were two women, one of which appeared to be the sister.

The women shut the door and told the officer not to come inside. Their refusal continued, and when additional officers arrived, law enforcement breached the door.

"As the sister approached the officers in the hallway, one officer fired a single shot, striking the female in the chest," Platkin's office said.

Officers began performing medical aid, and the woman—who officials have not identified—was transported to Englewood Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. She was pronounced dead at 1:58 a.m.

A knife was recovered at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing.