New Brunswick police

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A woman was fatally shot by a police officer in New Brunswick on Friday, Aug. 8, after allegedly exiting her apartment with a knife during an encounter with law enforcement, authorities said.

New Brunswick officers were called to an apartment building on Neilson Street for a report of a resident “walking around with a knife in the hallway," according to a release from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

Responding officers arrived at the woman’s apartment and “verbally engaged” with her while she was behind a closed door, the AG’s office said.

The woman then exited the apartment with a knife, according to the release. Officers deployed pepper spray and a taser before one officer discharged his service weapon, striking the woman.

Officers administered first aid at the scene, and the woman was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. A knife was recovered at the scene, officials said.

Her identity is not being released at this time. The investigation remains ongoing.

The case is being investigated under a 2019 state law that requires the Attorney General’s Office to review all deaths that occur during encounters with law enforcement officers acting in an official capacity or while a person is in custody.

“All such investigations must be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved,” the release said.

No further information is being released at this time.