A Korean American woman was fatally shot by police in the heavily Korean-American neighborhood of Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Officers from the Fort Lee Police Department were called to The Pinnacle apartment complex on Main Street in Fort Lee, near the George Washington Bridge, at around 1:25 a.m., according to the New Jersey District Attorney’s Office. A man had called 911 to report that “my sister has mental health issues and needs to go to the hospital” and that “she’s holding a knife right now.”
Upon arrival, officers spoke with the caller in the hallway of the apartment building and later opened the door to the apartment unit, where they saw two women, one of whom was believed to be the caller’s sister.
The two women told the officers not to enter, but the officers stood outside and knocked on the door, asking them to open it. When the resident refused to open the door even after other officers arrived, the officers broke down the door and entered the apartment.
As the caller’s sister approached the officers who had entered the house, one officer opened fire. The woman was shot in the chest and was rushed to Englewood Hospital, where she died a short time later at about 1:58 a.m. The police said a knife was recovered at the scene but did not disclose if the woman was armed at the time.
The woman’s identity has not been released, but according to Fort Lee police and her neighbors, she was a Korean American in her 20s. The District Attorney’s Office is closely investigating the incident.
The shooting has raised questions about police overreaction. “As soon as the apartment door opened, I heard gunshots,” one witness told Fox News, adding, “If she had a knife, they could have used a taser to restrain her, but I think the police overreacted.”
The Korean American Association of New Jersey (KAANJ) held an emergency meeting with Korean American organizations in New Jersey and agreed to send a joint statement to the New Jersey District Attorney’s Office, calling for a prompt and transparent investigation and a request for disclosure of information.
“A young Korean-American woman in her 20s who suffered from mental health issues was tragically shot and killed by a police officer,” the KAANJ said in the statement. “Law enforcement should not remain silent in this incident that has shocked and grieved our community. We need transparency about what happened that night and what steps will be taken to prevent a repeat.”
BY JIHYE YOON, HOONSIK WOO [yoon.jihye@koreadailyny.com]
