PATERSON, New Jersey (WABC) — New body camera footage was released Thursday of a police-involved shooting in Paterson that led to the death of a community activist earlier this month.
The deadly shooting happened on March 3, after Paterson police responded to Mill Street after receiving a 911 call from an individual in distress.
Officials say the individual, identified as Najee Seabrooks, was having a mental health crisis.
When officers arrived, they encountered family members of Seabrooks. They told the officers that Seabrooks was hallucinating and behaving erratically. At the family’s request, the officers called an ambulance.
The family escorted officers to an apartment, where they spoke with Seabrooks, who had locked himself inside a bathroom in an apartment.
The family said he may have been experiencing a bad reaction to something he had smoked and that his actions were completely out of character.
Officials say the family members told the police that they believed he had arrived at the apartment around 2:00 a.m., and in the morning grabbed some knives and locked himself inside the bathroom.
A negotiation took place between police and Seabrooks for about an hour and a half.
Officials say that around 10:15 a.m. a loud crash was heard from inside the bathroom and water began to flood the apartment.
Around 12:25 p.m., officials say Seabrooks came out of the bathroom and lunged towards the officers with a knife in his hand.
The newly released video shows the negotiation between police and Seabrooks and the moment when he came out of the bathroom. That’s when the officers shoot Seabrooks.
Seabrooks’ death has sparked outrage from other community activists.
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