A 911 Call Reveals the Devastating Consequences of Police Response in a Mental Health Crisis.
In a haunting 911 call, obtained by authorities on Wednesday, a family in Queens desperately sought help for their son's mental health emergency. Jabez Chakraborty, 22, had been calmly eating food at his home just minutes before police arrived, but the officers' presence sent the situation spiraling out of control.
When a family member called 911, they explicitly requested an ambulance and clarified that their son was not violent and had no weapons. However, the dispatcher's response suggested that both police and EMS would respond to the call, raising questions about why the request for involuntary transportation was automatically denied in favor of a more confrontational approach.
The officers' actions were captured on body camera footage, which shows Chakraborty picking up a kitchen knife after being entered by the police. The situation escalated when an officer drew his gun and yelled orders at Chakraborty, who then advanced towards them before being shot multiple times.
According to eyewitnesses, including Chakraborty's family, the officers' presence caused the situation to deteriorate rapidly. "Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez," they said in a statement. The family is now demanding that the Queens DA drop the prosecution against their son and push for reforms within the NYPD.
Chakraborty remains in intensive care after undergoing multiple surgeries and is currently handcuffed to his hospital bed, facing prosecution by the Queens district attorney's office. His family is also seeking release of all recordings from the incident, including footage of officers questioning them after the shooting.
The case has reignited calls for a Department of Community Safety that would send clinicians instead of police to some mental health calls. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has acknowledged Chakraborty needed mental health treatment rather than criminal prosecution, but it remains unclear whether concrete reforms will be implemented in response to this tragedy.
In a haunting 911 call, obtained by authorities on Wednesday, a family in Queens desperately sought help for their son's mental health emergency. Jabez Chakraborty, 22, had been calmly eating food at his home just minutes before police arrived, but the officers' presence sent the situation spiraling out of control.
When a family member called 911, they explicitly requested an ambulance and clarified that their son was not violent and had no weapons. However, the dispatcher's response suggested that both police and EMS would respond to the call, raising questions about why the request for involuntary transportation was automatically denied in favor of a more confrontational approach.
The officers' actions were captured on body camera footage, which shows Chakraborty picking up a kitchen knife after being entered by the police. The situation escalated when an officer drew his gun and yelled orders at Chakraborty, who then advanced towards them before being shot multiple times.
According to eyewitnesses, including Chakraborty's family, the officers' presence caused the situation to deteriorate rapidly. "Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez," they said in a statement. The family is now demanding that the Queens DA drop the prosecution against their son and push for reforms within the NYPD.
Chakraborty remains in intensive care after undergoing multiple surgeries and is currently handcuffed to his hospital bed, facing prosecution by the Queens district attorney's office. His family is also seeking release of all recordings from the incident, including footage of officers questioning them after the shooting.
The case has reignited calls for a Department of Community Safety that would send clinicians instead of police to some mental health calls. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has acknowledged Chakraborty needed mental health treatment rather than criminal prosecution, but it remains unclear whether concrete reforms will be implemented in response to this tragedy.
ugh I cant even handle the horror of this story its like they really did everything possible wrong police officers are trained to handle high risk situations but not mental health emergencies apparently a call for help meant a call for backup and instead of getting Jabez the help he needed, they escalated the situation 
and its not just Jabez who suffers its a whole family and community affected by police brutality
911 call is literally supposed to be about life or death situations not just mental health crises the police presence is what escalated the situation instead of de-escalating it they shouldve sent an ambulance alone and left the officers out of it all in all this tragedy is being caused by bureaucracy and a lack of understanding of mental health 
22 yrs old dude gets shot multiple times cuz they drew their gun & yelled orders... meanwhile his family was just trying to help him get some mental health help 
the fact that he's handcuffed in his hospital bed is just, like, wow... 
no more sending cops instead of clinicians to mental health calls 
it's just not right 
mayor Mamdani is talkin' the talk but is he gonna walk the walk? 
we need some concrete reforms ASAP 
. We need real reform here, like a Department of Community Safety that can actually help people in crisis instead of putting them in harm's way.
And can we talk about how unnecessary it was for the officers to draw their guns? It's like they were waiting for something to go wrong and then BAM! 
The whole thing is just so frustrating. I'm all about that community safety vibe now, you know? 
Let's get some serious reforms going on in the NYPD and make sure we're sending clinicians instead of cops to mental health emergencies. It's time for a new format, one that prioritizes people's well-being over punishment. 
. The police response was all wrong 
. They should have just listened and gotten help for Jabez 
and facing a long road to recovery 
. The family is really upset 
and the city needs to do something about this 
and now theres talk of reforms but wut if they dont happen? 
the idea of a department of community safety is actually kinda sweet though 
man... think about all those times you see movies or shows where the cop just shows up and somehow manages to defuse the situation... newsflash, that's not how real life works! 
but let's also hope that this tragedy leads to real change and more resources being allocated to mental health support systems instead of relying on police response 