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Family members, friends and others have spent the time since the Aug. 27 incident calling city police murderers, accusing authorities of withholding information and demanding what they say is accountability for Andrew Washington’s death.
During a protest outside City Hall on Wednesday, Sept.,20, they claimed that they were deliberately being kept in the dark.
What some may not have known is that an investigation had already begun. That's because New Jersey state law requires a review of any and all incidents in which a civilian dies during or immediately after an encounter with police.
Part of the process involves releasing audio and video recordings from police body cams and dashcams, as well as any surveillance or cellphone video that’s collected by detectives investigating the particular incident.
That happened on Friday.
"Drew" Washington, 52, who’d been shot by police 12 years ago, so he was no stranger to law enforcement.
Two weeks before last month's fatal encounter, officers responded to the Randolph Avenue residence in the Bergen-Lafayette section of the city and got Washington help without much trouble.
This time was different, though.
Specially-trained Officers Stephen Gigante and Felix DeJesus of the Jersey City Emergency Services Unit were summoned after Washington refused to cooperate with the first uniforms at the scene.
Ascending a flight of interior stairs to a landing, Gigante and DeJesus tied a bungee cord to the knob of Washington’s closed apartment door, then wrapped the other end around a banister.
Gigante then tried engaging Washington. He ended up doing all of the talking, in fact, an approach that experts say is essential in such situations in order to help eliminate the chance that various voices could confuse or disorient an already agitated person.
“My name is Steven, man. We’re here to help you,” Gigante tells Washington through the door. “You’re not in trouble…What’s goin’ on, man? You hearin’ voices?”
Washington shouts back: “If you’re not botherin’ me and not disrespecting me, then stop treating me like a f-----g slave! Get the f—k off, slave driver. ”
Washington then threatens to hit police with a bat or a frying pan “and you’re gonna take it.”
“You’ve gotta give a fair chance for a fight,” he says, then repeats it a few more times.
“I want to treat you with respect,” Gigante says, holding a protective shield in front of him. “All I ask is that you do the same thing back.”
Washington doesn’t answer.
Gigante implores Washington to come out several times over the next half hour.
“I am not your slave, so get out of my house,” the troubled man shouts at one point.
“Nobody said that you’re anybody’s slave,” Gigante responds.
“I did not call the cops, so get ... the ... f—k out!” Washington shouts.
Gigante tells Washington his name, that he’s with the Emergency Services Unit and that police just want to be sure he’s OK.
The officer repeatedly promises that he won’t be in any trouble and explains that they need to see him to be able to assess the situation.
“If you can open the door and show us your face and your hands that are clear, that’s all we want to see,” he says. “You seem like you’re having a bad day in there.”
There’s no response.
“We’re not tryin’ to come in, we’re not tryin’ to do nothin’ like that,” he says. “If you want to see my face, you can see my face.
“Can you hear me, Andrew?”
Nothing.
“You’re screamin’ in there like you’re havin’ an issue,” Gigante says. “We can talk about it. We all have bad days.”
Again no response.
“Andrew, are you inside thinking about hurting yourself?” Gigante asks. “ Do you want to kill yourself or harm anybody?”
Gigante also asks Washington if there are any loved ones they could bring up.
No response.
Roughly 17 minutes have passed when a supervisor tells the officers over the radio that it’s time to begin preparing to force their way in.
Gigante repeatedly calls out to Andrew and knocks on the door again.
At that point Washington shouts: “You get the f—k outta here! There’s no more people. You’re a ghost. Go! Go away, please! I did nothing wrong and you’re disrespecting me with your sorry ass!”
Gigante tells him they’re not ghosts, that they’re police officers and that any other voices he may hear are probably coming from their radios.
A few minutes have passed when Gigante asks DeJesus: “Did you hear something like a knife?”
“Hey, Andrew, would you be willing to come talk to me, man?” he shouts to Washington. “We want to get out of your way today. If you need help, we’re outside.”
Andrew suddenly yells: “I just shot all the n-----s remotely!”
“Who’d you shoot, Andrew?” Gigante asks.
Washington goes silent again.
A while later he tells the officers: “You’re on a suicide mission.” He repeats it a couple more times.
“We’ve come to help you. We’ll make sure your apartment’s nice and safe,” Gigante replies, “but I can’t do that with the door being closed.”
Throughout the encounter, Washington can be heard repeatedly coughing. He apparently is a heavy smoker, DeJesus tells his partner.
Gigante mentions the cough to Washington and tells him that EMTs are there to treat him if he needs it. He also asks if there’s anything he can do – if Washington would like coffee, for instance.
The fatal moment draws near as a dispatcher is heard telling city officers over their radios that the frequency they’re using has temporarily been put on hold and to not put anything out over the air.
DeJesus begins preparing to breach the door. He holds his Taser in front of him as Gigante draws closer.
“I can foot it,” Gigante tells his partner.
It's a few seconds under 32 minutes when the officers receive the command to go in.
DeJesus unhooks the cord and Gigante kicks in the door. Andrew has his back turned a few feet inside the apartment.
He whirls around – surprised and shirtless – as the door swings open and the jamb falls off.
He's holding a knife.
Grimacing, Washington charges at Gigante.
“Hey, he’s got a knife!” the officer shouts. “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!”
Five pops are heard.
Washington falls head-first partway down the steps. His lower body is still on the landing. He’s been shot twice by Gigante and Tased by DeJesus.
“He dropped the knife. He dropped the knife,” Gigante says.
“Don’t move or you will get Tased again,” DeJesus tells Washington. “Get EMS up here,” he then says over his radio.
“Help me up. Help me up,” Washington says. “I won’t fight. I won’t fight.”
“Do not fight, brother. We want to help you out,” Gigante tells him. “You’re gonna be good.”
The two body camera videos, along with two police radio calls, can be found here: Jersey City – Washington (NJ Attorney General’s Office)
Paramedics treated Washington at the scene, then took him to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:47 p.m., New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
Since then, his loved ones have been on a mission.
Washington wasn’t violent and was in a mental health crisis, they insist. He had a "terrible illness" -- schizophrenia and bipolar disorder -- and had been talking loudly to himself and banging on the walls lately, they said.
They apparently weren't expecting police to show up.
"A simple medical assistant[ce] call turned into a SWAT team killing," said Washington's aunt, Lisa Mendez. "He was in [his] own apartment causing no harm to no one. He just wouldn’t open the door.
"The Jersey City police forced entry and shot him like a criminal after we begged and advised everyone at the scene he had [a] mental disorder," Mendez said.
A mental health professional couldn't have come to the scene because the apartment wasn't secure, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Public Safety Director James Shea later told reporters.
Fulop and Shea said they both reviewed the police bodycam footage and agree that the shooting was justified because Washington charged at the officers with a large blade.
"While tragic, our police department acted appropriately," the mayor said.
"This was within the [New Jersey] attorney general's guidelines for use of force," Shea added. "It won't bring Mr. Washington back. We wish it had ended differently."
New Jersey law and his office's guidelines require the state attorney general to investigate any and all deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," no matter what the circumstances are.
The goal is to "promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters," Platkin has said.
Part of the process is providing the public with any and all audio and video recordings -- but not before family members have a chance to review it all.
Once an investigation by his Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is completed, the results will be presented to a grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency,” Platkin has said.
The presentation will include the videos, as well as transcripts or recordings of interviews with civilians and police, and any other information that authorities say speaks directly to the incident's outcome.
“An officer may use deadly force in New Jersey when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm,” Platkin has noted.
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