The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is investigating an incident where a Jersey City police officer fatally shot a mentally ill man.
According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 2:28 p.m. Sunday, Jersey City police officers responded to a home on Randolph Avenue in the area of Bramhall Avenue, after emergency medical services personnel requested the assistance of police.
One Jersey City police officer fired his service weapon and a male civilian was struck. The injured man was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 4:47 p.m.
A 2019 law, P.L. 2019, c. 1, requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.
The AG’s office declined to comment further, but family members told Pix 11 that the decedent is Andrew Jerome Washington, 52, who had been treated for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for decades.
They said they called the Jersey City Medical Center Crisis Center, but were instead met by police.
Jersey City officials will hold a press conference in front of City Hall, 280 Grove St., at 10 a.m. to address the incident.