New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is calling on city prosecutors to drop its pursuit of attempted murder charges against a knife-wielding man, who allegedly lunged at a police officer amid an alleged psychotic episode.
Body camera footage released by the New York Police Department showed two officers responding to a 911 call made to a Queens home on January 26. The call was made by family members sharing that 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was experiencing a mental health emergency. On the 911 call, a family member claimed that Chakraborty had thrown a glass at the wall and they were seeking for him to be transported to a facility. Officers were invited into the home by a woman when Chakraborty appeared behind her holding a large kitchen knife. The woman stuck her arm in front of Chakraborty and the officers raised their guns, calling on Chakraborty.
The officers closed the front entry door behind them, creating a barrier between them and the 22-year-old man. However, footage allegedly shows Chakraborty continuing to lunge at the officers and push through the door, prompting the officer to shoot Chakraborty four times.
He was transported to the hospital and is currently in intensive care, listed in stable yet critical condition.
Now the Queens District Attorney’s Office is seeking to pursue criminal charges against Chakraborty, who allegedly has schizophrenia. However, the family is protesting these charges, saying they had requested EMS to assist in the medical emergency. They claimed the officers only escalated the situation.
“Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute of NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and almost killed, while he was calmly eating food just minutes earlier.”
Mamdani, who ran his mayoral campaign on improving the city’s response to mental health crises, shared in the family’s sentiment that Chakraborty not be charged.
“In viewing this footage, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney, and we are talking about a family that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should and an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” Mamdani said.
“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available,” Mamdani continued.