Newsman: A 22-year-old Bangladeshi man Jabez Chakraborty was shot by New York City Police Department (NYPD) Officer Tyree White four times less than a minute after he entered Chakraborty’s home in Queens on Monday, January 26. His family had called 911 to request an ambulance because Chakraborty, was experiencing a mental health crisis.
“As everyone can see from the body cam footage, we were all calm as the officers arrived. The presence of cops did the opposite and caused the situation to escalate quickly and unnecessarily,” the family said. “Within a minute of NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and almost killed, while he was calmly eating food just minutes earlier. This is why officers should not be responding to medical support calls.”
Simran Thind, with Desis Rising Up and Moving, a South Asian immigrant advocacy group, said Jabez Chakraborty remains on a ventilator and has undergone multiple surgeries after being shot at least four times.
The NYPD says police were called to Chakraborty’s Briarwood home on Parsons Boulevard near 85th Avenue because a man was breaking glass. When they arrived, Chakraborty advanced toward officers with a kitchen knife, officials said.
But Thind said the family specifically asked the 911 dispatcher for an EMS response.
“They said that he was not a threat, he just needs to go to the hospital,” she said. “
But an NYPD spokesperson said the 911 caller requested an involuntary removal, which triggers both EMS and police response. The FDNY said EMS did respond to a mental health emergency.
The NYPD spokesperson said officers were invited into the home by the family and did not draw weapons until Chakraborty grabbed a knife.
The family also accused officers of seizing their phones and asking immigration-related questions after the shooting. Thind said officers asked what country the family was from, when they last visited and whether their daughter was born in the United States.
“There’s no reason for that,” Thind said. “That is something that is so irrelevant to what has happened.”
The NYPD disputed that account. A spokesperson said there was no evidence officers asked immigration-related questions, and that phones were seized later at the district attorney’s request. Queens DA’s office spokesperson Brendan Brosh said the office doesn’t comment on investigations.
The family said the incident reminded them of the shooting of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old from the same Bangladeshi Christian community who was killed by NYPD officers responding to a mental health call in Ozone Park in March 2024.
“She was worried that the same way that Win was killed, that her son was about to be killed by the police,” Thind said of the mother, Juli Chakraborty. “She was just so scared that this was going to happen to her son.”
