KIYC: Family of woman shot by police files civil rights lawsuit
Fort Lee police shot Victoria Lee within seconds of arriving at the family's apartment in 2024,
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The family of a young woman who was shot and killed by Fort Lee police has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the police department and the officers involved.
Victoria Lee, 25, was shot and killed in July 2024 after her family called 911 to say she was having an emotional crisis. The lawsuit alleges Fort Lee police “failed to employ standard de-escalation techniques...rushing headlong into a situation which led to the unnecessary and unlawful use of excessive force.”
Recordings from body-worn cameras show that when police arrived at the Lee family's apartment, Victoria and her mother were inside, with the door locked. Victoria was reportedly armed with a small knife. After breaking down the door, officers opened fire after they say Victoria tossed a plastic water jug in their direction.
“The Fort Lee Police Department should have called in a mental health professional,” says Amelia Green, the attorney for the Lee family. “They should have de-escalated. There was absolutely no basis to break down Victoria Lee's door and certainly not to use any force against her, let alone lethal force.”
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Kane In Your Corner contacted the Fort Lee Police Department, seeking comment on the lawsuit. As of close of business, the agency had not responded.
A grand jury declined to indict any of the officers involved in the shooting of Victoria Lee, but the family has questioned the thoroughness of the investigation. They note that grand jurors did not hear testimony from Victoria’s mother, who was an eyewitness to the shooting.
Victoria Lee’s story is not unprecedented. A 2025 Kane In Your Corner investigation found people experiencing mental health incidents were recipients of one-third of all police use-of-force cases in New Jersey. They comprised nearly half the incidents of deadly force.
New Jersey has been phasing in a program called “Arrive Together”, which pairs police officers with mental health professionals, but the program was not in place in Fort Lee when Lee was shot.
