Bodycam footage of fatal police-involved shooting during Fort Lee mental health call released

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Bodycam footage of fatal police-involved shooting during Fort Lee mental health call released

A still image from body camera video 3 shows Fort Lee Police Department officers preparing to breach the apartment door during a mental health call on July 28, 2024. NJOAG/Bodycam Footage

EDITOR’S NOTE: This news report contains graphic details of the police-involved shooting and vulgarities that could be offensive or disturbing to some readers.

Aug. 19 (ZFJ) — Body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Victoria G. Lee, 25, of Fort Lee, by Fort Lee Police Officer Tony Pickens, Jr., during a mental health call on July 28 was released by the N.J. Attorney General’s Office (OAG) on Friday, Aug. 16. Two 911 audio recordings were also released.

On July 28, at about 1:25 a.m., Fort Lee police responded to a home in “The Pinnacle” apartment complex on Main Street after a man called 911 twice to report that his sister was having a mental health crisis and request that she be taken to the Valley Hospital in Paramus, said OAG in a statement.

In the first call, the caller said his sister was having a “mental breakdown.” The dispatcher informed him that an ambulance and police officer would be dispatched. The caller then said that “just the ambulance is fine,” but the dispatcher said that officers had to be sent on mental health calls to ensure the safety of ambulance personnel.

The first call to 911. NJOAG/911 Recording 　

In the second call, the caller asked to cancel the 911 call, to which the dispatcher said could not be done. The caller said that his sister had a knife. The dispatcher confirmed that the sister was in a bedroom in the apartment and asked if she was trying to cut anyone with the knife or just holding it. The caller said she was only holding it and described it as a foldable knife.

The second call to 911. NJOAG/911 Recording 　

Officer Tony Pickens, Jr., was the first to arrive at the apartment. He spoke to the caller in the hallway outside the apartment.

Pickens then opened the apartment door and saw two women: the caller’s sister, Lee, and her mother, who was holding a dog. They told the officer not to enter and shut the door.

Pickens stood outside the door, continued knocking on it, and directed the women to open the door as additional officers arrived. After the women did not comply, Pickens informed them that he would have to break the door down.

Lee then replied, “Go ahead, I’ll stab you in the f—— neck.”

The officers discussed who would be assigned to use lethal and less-lethal weapons. One officer noted that they’d typically wait in a situation where someone is barricaded inside, but that they’d have to breach immediately if someone was inside.

Pickens then breached the door, with an officer holding a shield to his right. Behind them was an officer holding a gun and an officer holding a taser, seen in the body camera footage.

Lee approached the officers as the door was breached. Officers shouted “Drop the knife!”, and Pickens fired a single shot that hit Lee in the chest.

When she was hit, Lee dropped a large jug of water, partially filled, that she’d been holding in her right hand.

“Oh f—, f—!” Pickens said immediately after the shooting. He then shouted “F—!”, threw the water jug back into the apartment, and dragged her into the hallway to render medical aid, saying, “hold up ma’am, come on ma’am!”

Officers immediately rendered medical aid to Lee. She was transported to Englewood Hospital and pronounced dead at about 1:58 a.m.

Body camera footage 1, belonging to Officer Tony Pickens, Jr. NJOAG/Bodycam Footage 　

The OAG statement notes that “a knife was recovered at the scene.”

Per state law, the Attorney General’s Office is required to investigate any deaths that occur during law enforcement encounters and present the evidence to a grand jury that will decide whether to move forward with an indictment against the officers.

All of the released body camera footage and 911 audio recordings can be watched on The Zombie Fridge Journal’s YouTube channel.

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