NYPD officer shoots mentally ill man with knife in Queens apartment

The New York City Police Department has released body camera footage showing the moment a police officer shot a mentally ill man who allegedly charged at him with a knife amid calls from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for mental health treatment instead of criminal charges.

Jabez Chakraborty, 22, held a large kitchen knife and charged at officers who responded to an emergency call from his family in Queens on Jan. 26, according to the New York Police Department.

The footage, released Tuesday by the New York Police Department, shows a police officer entering the living room of the home, where Chakraborty allegedly brandished a knife. Officers can be heard attempting to deescalate the situation, repeatedly ordering him to “put the knife down,” but Chakraborty continued to move toward the officer, according to the New York Police Department.

A woman is seen in the footage trying to block Chakraborty with her arm, but he continued to advance while carrying the knife. The footage shows the NYPD officer repositioning himself in the home’s foyer 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 allegedly carrying a knife during an emergency response inside a Queens home. (NYPD)

According to the NYPD, Chakraborty then pushed the door open and walked toward the officer with the knife.

The officer discharged his weapon, hitting Chakraborty four times. He was taken to hospital, where he remains in intensive care in stable but critical condition.

The clip released by the New York Police Department begins with audio of a 911 call from a “civilian witness” reporting that Chakraborty was going through a mental health episode and had thrown a glass at the wall. The caller asked paramedics, not the police, for an ambulance so that 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 potentially considering seeking an attempted murder indictment.

Mamdani, however, told a news conference on Tuesday that Chakraborty should receive mental health treatment and not face criminal charges.

“Looking at these images, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not a criminal prosecution from a prosecutor. We are talking about a family who is enduring the kind of pain that no family should have to endure and an individual who has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” the mayor said.

“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always need to be served 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, allegedly held a large kitchen knife and charged at police officers who responded to the family’s emergency call. (NYPD)

Mamdani said he met with Chakraborty’s family, who criticized him for his initial reaction 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 in harm’s way every day to keep our communities safe.”

Chakraborty’s family released a statement Wednesday accusing law enforcement of causing a “rapid and unnecessary escalation” of the situation.

“Rather than deescalate the situation, the officer further escalated the situation by drawing his weapon and shouting orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Less than a minute after the NYPD arrived, Jabez was shot multiple times and nearly killed, even though he had been calmly eating food minutes earlier.”

The family has asked the Queens District Attorney’s Office to “drop charges against our son” and for the New York Police Department 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 has 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 to put in place systems to call on responders who are not police officers,” the family wrote. “We are calling for changes where the needs of families following such incidents are centered rather than re-traumatized again and again.”

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the body camera footage “clearly shows that these officers found themselves in an unpredictable, fast-paced and dangerous situation.”

“They had neither the time nor the space to defuse the situation before being forced to act,” he added. “They did their job with professionalism and restraint in terrible circumstances.”

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Fox News Digital has contacted the NYPD for comment.

Fox News Digital Landon Mion contributed to this report.