Friends and family of a New Jersey man killed by police after he called them for help during a mental health crisis said he was a shooting survivor who worked to reduce gun violence in his neighborhood.
Najee Seabrooks, 31, was shot to death by Paterson police after a four-hour standoff on March 3 at his Mill Street apartment. It’s still unclear what led to Seabrooks’s mental health episode, but his friends and coworkers argued if police hadn’t prevented them from negotiating with the man that he still would be alive.
“I’m begging the officer, showing them text messages, things that Najee is saying to me — ‘all I want to do is see your face, and I’m going to come out.’ I told the officers this. They did not allow us in,” Seabrooks’ supervisor, Teddy Martinez, said during a March 7 vigil.
Seabrooks joined the Paterson Healing Collective two years ago after recovering from gunshot wounds in the hospital. He woke up to the executive director Liza Chowdhury and another member standing next to him.
Chowdhury, who knew Seabrooks since he was 16 said it comforted him to see a familiar face after the traumatic experience. She believes his mental health crisis may have been a side effect of the violence he lived through most of his life.
In a phone interview with Atlanta Black Star, Chowdhury described Seabrooks as a positive person who always “wanted to be around good vibes.” He was a dedicated father who loved basketball and always tried to be a role model for his younger brother.
Chowdhury, a criminal justice expert and activist, said Seabrooks called her the morning he was killed. He didn’t say much, but she heard the urgency in his voice.
“‘It was I need your help. Come here,’ and he hung up on me,” Chowdhury said.
Chowdhury said she was in South Jersey and could not get to Paterson right away, but eight other members of the collective went to the scene. Seabrooks reportedly had called 911 to ask…
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