Doris Ervin knew the number for the Jersey City Medical Center’s mental health crisis team by heart.
She had been dialing it for weeks in hopes of getting help for her nephew, 52-year-old Andrew Washington, who she said was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 26 years ago.
Now, she said she wishes she’d never called it.
Ervin called the number on Sunday after Washington went missing for a few days and was saying strange things. A neighbor said he’d been yelling a lot lately.
Ervin then watched from the yard of Washington’s Jersey City home as scores of police in tactical gear tried to coax him out of his apartment, used a Taser on him and then shot him twice, according to the state attorney general’s office. He died at the Jersey City Medical Center soon after.
“We were afraid for his well-being, and we really wanted him to get help because of his illness,” Ervin said. “And I kind of feel bad now that we did. We should have just left it alone.”
Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office is investigating the shooting, as is now required by law for all killings by police and in-custody deaths in New Jersey. Washington’s loved ones and anti-violence organizations also plan to gather outside his home on Randolph Avenue for a vigil on Tuesday evening.
The Jersey City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment, but both Public Safety Director James Shea and Mayor Steven Fulop defended the officers’ actions at a press conference on Monday. Stacie Newton, a spokesperson for the Jersey City Medical Center, said the hospital “expresses its heartfelt condolences” to Washington’s family but said she could not comment on an open police investigation.
Platkin has not yet released body camera footage of the incident, so questions remain about exactly what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting. But Washington’s family and city officials have offered diverging narratives.
‘What do you think’s gonna happen?’
Ervin said she…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply