The New Jersey Attorney General is investigating Sunday’s fatal police-involved shooting in Bergen-Lafayette.
According to the Attorney General, the shooting, first reported by the Jersey City Times, took place at approximately 2:28 p.m. on Sunday when police officers from the Jersey City Police Department responded to a home on Randolph Avenue. Emergency medical services personnel had requested police assistance.
One officer fired his weapon, striking a man, who was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
The Attorney General’s report is largely consistent with JCT’s earlier reporting.
PIX11 News has identified the victim as 52-year-old Jerome Washington. Two of his aunts told PIX11 that he had been treated for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for decades.
Neighbors confirmed that Washington had suffered from an unspecified mental illness for some time.
The family told PIX11 that Washington had been acting strangely over the last few days, leading them to call the Jersey City Medical Center Crisis Center for help. The family described for PIX11 Washington’s prior interactions with the police and their pleas that the police not use force.
One neighbor told The Jersey City Times that police were already familiar with Washington from previous incidents.
“He was a big guy..more than six feet tall…and walked with a limp” said a man sitting on a porch down the block from the shooting.
A woman who spoke with both the victim’s family and the police confirmed that Washington had been hospitalized previously. “They shouldn’t have let him out” she said. She had spoken with the police and was told that Washington brandished a knife before the shooting.
Washington’s sister told PIX11 that Washington was an “incredible and charismatic human being.”