A story broke yesterday that officers from the Jersey City Police Department were called to an apartment building located at 239 Fowler Avenue Friday night on the report that a man had barricaded himself in his apartment. The man was later shot and a Jersey City police officer suffered “minor injuries.” Both were transported to the Jersey City Medical Center, where the man died.
Authorities now confim that the 44-year old man was mentally ill. Officers responded when a therapist from Jersey City Medical Center’s Mobile Crisis Unit reported that he was off his medication and had locked himself in his apartment. He apparently had a history of threatening to kill mental health workers and being violent towards law enforcement and medical personnel.
Law enforcement attempted to negotiate with the man, but he refused to exit his apartment, at which point entry was forced. They were immediately confronted by the man, who had armed himself with a large knife. Using a “distraction device and non-lethal pepper ball system,” law enforcement was unable to subdue the man. When he attacked an officer with the knife, he was shot.
The officer, a Sergeant, is a 15-year veteran with the Jersey City Police Department. He suffered no physical injuries, but is being treated for stress-induced trauma.
Officials from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office indicated that the matter is still being investigated, but “it appears the Sergeant’s actions were reasonable.”
For more information, see the Jersey Journal article entitled, “Man shot dead by Jersey City Police was mentally ill and attacked police with a knife, authorities say.“
