New York police shot and killed a woman after she drew a knife on them while they were responding to a domestic dispute in Dutchess County, newly released bodycam footage shows.
The tense footage of the April 29, 2022, killing of Jamie Feith was released by the state Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation on Tuesday as the office looks into the police shooting.
At the time of the shooting, Feith, 34, lived with her partner and their three young boys in Hyde Park, a town nearly two hours north of Manhattan, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.
Police were called to the couple’s home after receiving a report of physical domestic violence and were initially able to de-escalate the conflict between Feith and her partner, who has not been named.
As Hyde Park police officers Joshua Kemlage and Bryan Sweeney and state Trooper Christopher Miller spoke with Feith following the conflict, she armed herself with a knife and attempted to stab the officers, according to state police.
The Hyde Park Police Department told The Post they have no comment due to the ongoing investigation.
The short video, taken from Miller’s body-worn camera, starts off by showing Kemlage ushering Feith away from a bedroom where one of her children can be seen standing in the background.
Several seconds after they exit the room, another officer announces she is armed and exclaims, “Watch! Knife!”
One of the officers repeatedly yells “knife” and speaks into his walkie-talkie, saying, “911, send an additional, we’ve got one at gunpoint.”
The graphic footage then shows Kemlage wrestling Feith to the floor while trying to get the weapon out of her hand.
Officers tell Feith, who is starting to stand up, to “get back” and “drop the knife,” but she does not listen and continues to move through the home.
One of the officers then says, “Shoot her,” and Kemlage fires two shots, knocking Feith to the floor.
Throughout the scruffle, Feith’s partner, who is being held by an officer out of the camera’s view, yells, “Don’t f—— shoot her” as Kemlage fires a third and fourth shot.
The partner can be heard repeatedly exclaiming “No” before shouting, “What the f—. What the f—. Get off of her. Get off of her.”
The video ends shortly after Feith’s partner yells at the officers not to kill him.
Feith was pronounced dead at the scene.
In New York, incidents in which civilians are killed during encounters with police are subject to investigation by the state attorney general.
“The release of this video follows Attorney General [Letitia] James’ directive that camera footage obtained by her office in the course of an OSI investigation be released to the public in order to increase transparency and strengthen public trust in these matters,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a release.
The attorney general’s investigation is ongoing.
