NJ Attorney General releases bodycam footage in fatal police shooting of Victoria Lee

NEW JERSEY - The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has released body camera footage and 911 call recordings related to the fatal police shooting of 25-year-old Victoria Lee in Fort Lee last month. 

The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. on July 28, when Victoria Lee’s brother called 911 twice, reporting that his sister was experiencing a mental health crisis. 

In the first call, he requested an ambulance, and in the second, he attempted to cancel the request, informing the operator that Lee was holding a foldable knife, though he clarified that she was not currently threatening anyone.

Video of the incident shows that Fort Lee Police Officer Tony Pickens Jr. was among the first to respond, arriving at the apartment shortly after the calls. 

The bodycam footage shows Lee’s brother answering the door, followed by Lee herself appearing with a dog, as her mother pleaded with Officer Pickens to leave before shutting the apartment's door. 

The situation quickly escalated, with the officers repeatedly instructing Lee and her mother to open the door.

As more officers arrived on the scene, the footage captures the officers telling the mother and daughter to open the door, before announcing they they are going to break the door down.

As the officers force entry into the apartment, Officer Pickens can be heard screaming for Lee to "drop the knife," before a gunshot is fired.

Lee can then be seen dropping to the floor while her mother screams, and officers quickly enter the apartment to find the knife and give Lee assistance.

Lee's family has insisted that at the time of the shooting, the knife was not in her hand and she was holding a water jug when she was shot. 

"The officer finally kicked the door and opened the door, he saw Victoria in the apartment and saw Victoria holding a water jug and shot her right there," said Hrny Cho, the attorney representing the Lee family at a press conference earlier this week. 

The Attorney General's office is investigating the shooting, and says investigators met with the woman's family to review the body camera video.

FOX 5 NY reached out to Lee's family for comment about the release of the video, but did not hear back.