For Immediate Release: August 5, 2024
Office of the Attorney General
– Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
Office of Public Integrity and Accountability
– Drew Skinner, Executive Director
For Further Information:
Media Inquiries-
Dan Prochilo
OAGpress@njoag.gov
TRENTON — The Attorney General’s Office today identified the decedent and the officer from the fatal officer-involved shooting in Fort Lee, New Jersey, on Sunday, July 28, 2024. The civilian who died during the encounter has been identified as Victoria G. Lee, 25, of Fort Lee.
According to the preliminary investigation, on July 28 at approximately 1:25 a.m., police officers from the Fort Lee Police Department responded to a home in “The Pinnacle” apartment complex on Main Street, after a man called 911 reporting that his sister was having a mental health crisis and needed to go to the hospital. The caller stated that his sister was holding a knife.
Upon arrival, an officer spoke to the caller outside of the apartment unit in the building’s hallway. The officer then opened the apartment door and observed two females: the sister, identified as Ms. Lee, and another female. They told the officer not to come in and shut the door. The officer stood outside knocking on the door, asking the females to open the door as additional officers arrived. After the occupants did not comply, officers breached the door. As Ms. Lee approached the officers in the hallway, Police Officer Tony Pickens, Jr. fired a single shot, striking Ms. Lee in the chest. Officers provided immediate medical aid. Ms. Lee was transported to Englewood Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased at approximately 1:58 a.m. A knife was recovered at the scene.
A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), 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. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
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NOTE: This press release has been updated to correct the age of the decedent.