Paterson Police release body cam video from standoff leading up to fatal shooting of community activist Najee Seabrooks
PATERSON, N.J. -- New body camera video shows Paterson Police responding to a 911 call that led to a man's death.
Officers shot and killed 31-year-old Najee Seabrooks on March 3.
Paterson Police received a 911 call from a man apparently in distress.
Seabrooks can be heard saying, "Hello, this is Najee Seabrooks. I'm calling from Paterson, New Jersey. There's a lot of people trying to hurt me right now."
Officers went to Mill Road, where Seabrooks' family told police he was behaving erratically, had been hallucinating and locked himself in the bathroom.
READ MORE: Paterson community demands officers who fatally shot Najee Seabrooks be held accountable
A negotiation began that would last nearly five hours.
"I'm not here to assume or to judge you, OK?" an officer can be heard saying in one video.
Police invited family members to try to get Seabrooks to walk out.
"Najee, please come out," a family member says.
But things would only get worse as police continued to keep the conversation going, including with a trained negotiator.
"What I really need here is help," Seabrooks is heard saying.
"OK, so we are here to help you," an officer says.
"Nah, you just wanna kill me," Seabrooks says.
"No, no, no. Not at all. Listen, I'm here to help you," the officer says.
Seabrooks told police he had two knives and a gun.
"I'm gonna shoot one of y'all," Seabrooks says.
He would vary between promising to surrender to saying he would die in the bathroom and take officers with him.
Seabrooks would occasionally open the door, and at one point, he threw an unknown liquid at an officer.
At another point, Seabrooks apparently started a fire.
"He's putting alcohol on the fire," someone can be heard saying.
The report from the Attorney General says officers used 15 non-lethal projectiles to try to stop Seabrooks, but they were not effective on him.
Seabrooks took to cutting himself with the knives.
"You're bleeding yourself out. I need you to put the knife on the floor," an officer said.
The Attorney General says the standoff finally came to an end when Seabrooks lunged towards the officers with a knife in his hand and they opened fire.
READ MORE: Family of Paterson, NJ activist Najee Seabrooks speaks with CBS2 after fatal police shooting
The Attorney General says officers gave aid at the scene. Seabrooks was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital a short time later.
Family members and activists are demanding changes in response to mental health emergencies.
"We need to have an assistance crisis team that is not armed and trained to kill," Zellie Thomas, with Black Lives Matter, Paterson, said at a rally on March 7.
The shooting remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.
