Attorney General Refuses To Answer Questions About Woman Killed By New Brunswick Police Officer

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Did mental health counselors accompany New Brunswick Police last Friday, when police responded to a senior housing building and ultimately ended up fatally shooting a 68-year-old woman?

A spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin refused to answer that question this week.

The woman was shot and killed by a New Brunswick Police officer Friday morning, inside the apartment building where she lived, the John P. Fricano Tower at 90 Neilson Street. She had a knife in her hand when she was shot, said the Attorney General.

Officers first used pepper spray, then a Taser-like device and finally one officer deployed his service weapon, striking the woman and killing her. This video (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNRs_uYsCGD/?igsh=MTIzN2tqeWR3N2M0eQ%3D%3D) is not from police body cameras, but it was taken by someone in the hallway during the fatal encounter.

And now, supporters of this woman, and her family, say she should not have been killed. The womanis identified as Deborah Terrell, a longtime resident of the city of New Brunswick, reported New Brunswick Today. Residents of the building also told New Brunswick Today they heard multiple gunshots fired Friday morning.

“My sister [weighs] 120 pounds,” said Linda McCalla, who said on the New Brunswick Today Facebook page that she is the woman's sister. “She’s not stable on her feet so once they messed [with] her that would’ve been it.”

In 2021, Platkin and Gov. Phil Murphy launched Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation (ARRIVE) Together, where trained mental health counselors respond with police to certain 911 calls, particularly those where the subject may be having a mental health crisis.

Platkin and Murphy have long championed the program, which they launched after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. ARRIVE Together is now in place in all 21 New Jersey counties and had its 10,000th interaction this year, said Murphy.

So, did ARRIVE Together happen last Friday in New Brunswick?

A spokesman for the Attorney General refused to answer.

"At this time, the investigation is ongoing and further information will be released later," the Attorney General's deputy communications director Matthew Symons said this week.

On Friday morning, Aug. 8 New Brunswick Police were dispatched to the public senior housing apartment building at 90 Neilson Street in response to a complaint about a resident walking around in the hallway with a knife. Responding officers arrived at Terrell's apartment and verbally engaged with her, while she remained behind her closed apartment door. She then exited the apartment with a knife and officers encountered her in the hallway. New Brunswick police officers first used OC spray (commonly known as pepper spray) and then a Taser-like device on the woman. One officer then deployed his service weapon, striking her, said the Attorney General. They woman was pronounced dead at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. A knife was found at the scene.

The public is clamoring for the Attorney General to release the police's body camera footage.

"We will get justice for Deborah McCalla by all means necessary or unnecessary," someone posted on this Instagram account.

The Attorney General is currently investigating Terrell's death.

The Attorney General will make available video footage captured by officers’ body-worn cameras and police vehicle dashboard cameras (when applicable) once the initial investigation is substantially complete — meaning investigators have completed interviews of all available witnesses and gathered all the physical evidence.

Anytime someone dies in New Jersey during an encounter with law enforcement, all details associated with the incident must be presented to a grand jury to determine if the police officers should be indicted for a crime.

First report: Woman Shot And Killed By Police In New Brunswick (Aug. 8)