15 NYC Council Members Call on Queens DA to Dismiss Case Against Man Shot by NYPD
Jabez Chakraborty, 22-year-old Bangladeshi New Yorker shot by NYPD officers in Queens on Jan. 26, 2026. (Photo provided by DRUM via family)
NEW YORK— Fifteen New York City Council members have called on Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to drop felony charges against a 22-year-old man who was shot by police during a mental health crisis at his home.
In a letter, the lawmakers said they were “outraged” that Jabez Chakraborty continues to be prosecuted after officers responded to a call for help with a mental health emergency. They urged Katz to dismiss all charges immediately.
The letter was led by Council Member Tiffany Cabán, who represents parts of Queens. Other signers include Shahana Hanif, Chi Ossé, Shekar Krishnan, Lincoln Restler, Alexa Avilés, Sandy Nurse and Harvey Epstein.
Chakraborty was shot Jan. 26 at his home in Briarwood, Queens. According to the letter, his family had followed instructions from his mental health providers to request an ambulance or clinician during a heightened situation, but uniformed, armed police responded instead. The council members said officers shot him five times within 30 seconds of entering the home. They said he was hit in the chest, abdomen and groin, and that officers handcuffed him before providing medical aid.
Police have said officers responded to a 911 call and that Chakraborty came at them with a knife.
Katz’s office obtained a sealed indictment Jan. 30 charging Chakraborty with attempted assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, the letter says. He was fingerprinted Feb. 1 while in a surgical intensive care unit and remained shackled to his hospital bed for more than 12 days, until his Feb. 13 arraignment, according to the letter. A judge set bail at $50,000 after prosecutors sought to have him held.
The council members also said police questioned the family about their immigration status and took their phones at the direction of the district attorney’s office. They said relatives were held at the precinct for hours and pressured into signing consent forms to search their devices while they did not know whether Chakraborty was alive.
The letter says Chakraborty, who was taking medication and receiving outpatient care, was experiencing a crisis tied to the onset of schizophrenia. It says his family had been turned away from inpatient psychiatric care and placed on a waiting list for an intensive outpatient program.
The lawmakers said the case shows why trained mental health professionals, not police, should be the primary responders to such calls. They noted that few mental health calls are diverted to clinicians under the city’s B-HEARD pilot program and that the NYPD controls which calls the program handles. They said B-HEARD would not have prevented the shooting.
The letter also references the 2024 police killing of Win Rozario, another member of southwest Queens’ Bangladeshi community who was in mental distress.
The letter says the district attorney’s office has not investigated or charged any officers involved. Katz has previously defended the prosecution, and her office referred reporters to an earlier statement when asked about a judge’s April 1 ruling rejecting a defense motion to dismiss the charges. Her office did not immediately respond to the council members’ letter.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also urged Katz not to prosecute Chakraborty.