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NYPD releases video showing police shooting 22-year-old man in mental health crisis
By
Charles Lane
Published Feb 3, 2026
Modified Feb 3, 2026
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By
Charles Lane
Published Feb 3, 2026
Modified Feb 3, 2026
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The NYPD on Tuesday released body-camera footage from last week’s police shooting of a 22-year-old man whose family says he needed emergency mental health support, not a police response.
Last week, the NYPD said police were called to Jabez Chakraborty’s home in Briarwood, Queens, because a man was breaking glass. When officers arrived, Chakraborty advanced toward them with a kitchen knife, officials said.
The video shows Chakraborty appearing to help his family in the kitchen when officers are let into the home. Immediately upon seeing the officers, he picks up a knife and moves toward them, ignoring calls from his family to stop.
One family member attempts to block Chakraborty, but he evades her and continues moving toward the police, who start shouting commands to drop the knife.
An officer shuts an entryway door to block him, but Chakraborty opens it, putting the knife within a foot of the officer before the officer fires four shots.
Chakraborty was placed on a ventilator after undergoing multiple surgeries, a family spokesperson said Friday.
Police did not release recordings of the 911 call, in which both family and police said the caller asked for an “involuntary removal” and indicated that Chakraborty was not a threat.
The FDNY said EMS responded to a mental health emergency, but the video shows only police at the scene.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani expedited the video’s release after the family complained that they had requested medical transport, not police, that their phones were searched and that they were asked immigration-related questions after the incident.
Neither City Hall nor the NYPD immediately explained why the 911 call was not released.
The NYPD has said the family’s request for an involuntary removal automatically triggered a police response. The department said the phones were searched at the district attorney’s request and denied that any immigration questions were asked.
The released video ends after the officer shoots Chakraborty and does not show any questioning by the police.
Mamdani said Tuesday that Chakraborty was diagnosed with schizophrenia and should have had the option of mental health care instead of a police response.
A City Hall spokesperson said Mamdani’s call for an investigation is focused solely on the use of force, not on whether police improperly questioned the family or why their phones were seized.
Such an inquiry would typically happen if the family files a formal complaint with the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau or the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
The family did not immediately comment on the release of the video.
Family members and activists have drawn parallels to the shooting of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old from the same Bangladeshi Christian community, who was killed by NYPD officers responding to a mental health call in Ozone Park in March 2024.
Rozario's family had called 911 seeking help during a mental health crisis and officers shot him after he picked up a pair of scissors.
The state attorney general's office declined to prosecute the officers in that case. But the Civilian Complaint Review Board has recommended misconduct charges against them, overriding its own investigators’ findings. That could lead to a departmental trial.
Last week, a police spokesperson emphasized that officers were invited into the family’s home and only fired after Chakraborty moved toward them with a knife.
PBA President Patrick Hendry said the video makes it clear that these police officers walked into an unpredictable, fast-moving and dangerous situation.
“There was no time or space for them to de-escalate the situation before they were forced to act,” he said. “They did their job professionally and with restraint under terrible circumstances.”
This story has been updated with new information.
Tagged
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public safety
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Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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