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On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed his stance regarding the case of a mentally ill man shot by police, urging that the Queens district attorney forgo prosecution in favor of prioritizing mental health treatment. Mamdani argued that addressing the individual’s mental health needs is more appropriate than pursuing criminal charges.
The incident involved 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty, who was armed with a large kitchen knife when he charged at police officers responding to a family emergency call on January 26. According to NYPD officials, the officers repeatedly instructed Chakraborty to drop the knife as they attempted to de-escalate the confrontation. Despite their efforts, one officer was compelled to open fire, leaving Chakraborty critically injured and in need of hospital care.
Chakraborty’s family had initially dialed 911 to report that he was throwing glass objects inside their home on Parsons Blvd. in Briarwood, as detailed by the New York Daily News. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found themselves facing a tense situation as Chakraborty charged at them with the knife. Attempts to create a barrier by closing a glass door separating them from Chakraborty were futile, as he managed to breach the door and confront the officers with the weapon.
Mayor Mamdani, reflecting on the incident, reiterated his belief that the criminal justice system should not be the avenue for dealing with Chakraborty’s mental health crisis. He emphasized the need for compassion and appropriate mental health interventions over legal action, aiming to redirect the focus from punishment to care.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he does not believe the Queens district attorney should prosecute a mentally ill man who was shot by police as he ran toward officers with a knife. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The officers did not draw their guns until Chakraborty pulled the knife, NYPD officials said.
The officers provided first aid and attempted to stop the bleeding following the shooting, according to the agency. He was then rushed to the hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition.
The family had asked for emergency medical workers to respond to the incident rather than police, the family said in a statement. The family said Chakraborty was shot at least four times.
“We called for help,” the family said. “We called 911 for an ambulance to provide medical attention for our son, who was in emotional distress. We did not call the police. Instead of medical responders, the NYPD arrived and shot our son multiple times right in front of us.”
Jabez Chakraborty, 22, was holding a large kitchen knife and charged at the officers who responded to the emergency call from the family. (NYPD)
The Queens district attorney’s office is investigating the incident, with preliminary reports suggesting prosecutors were looking at potentially seeking an indictment for attempted murder.
But Mamdani, who has viewed the body camera footage, said the man needs mental health treatment instead of facing criminal charges.
“In viewing this footage, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney, and we are talking about a family that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should and an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” the mayor said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available,” he added.
The officers repeatedly told the man to drop the weapon as they attempted to de-escalate the situation before one officer fired several times. (Susan Watts/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The mayor also said he had met with Chakraborty’s family, who had criticized him for his initial response to the shooting. Mamdani said hours after the shooting that police had “encountered an individual wielding a knife,” and that he was “grateful to the first responders who put themselves on the line each day to keep our communities safe.”
“After all this, we saw Mayor Mamdani’s statement applauding the NYPD officers that shot our son, threatened and lied to us, and kept us from seeing our son for over 24 hours,” the family’s statement read. “Why is the mayor applauding officers who recklessly almost killed our son in front of us?”