tonight we continue to follow the Fallout in Jersey City after the Fatal police shooting of a man experiencing a mental health crisis last month the family wants Justice for Drew the 52-year-old Andrew Jerome Washington who was killed in the incident accusing his death of being brushed aside because of the mayor's political Ambitions senior political correspondent David Cruz reports we do feel that the use of force yesterday was justified based on the circumstances and in line with Police Department training in his 10 years as mayor Steve Phillip has always tried to project an image of dispassionate leadership in public he keeps it cool aloof say some he says it's about keeping an even Keel when emotions are heated in the case of the police shooting of Andrew Washington last week though the mayor's tone as he declared the shooting Justified was another example of Philip failing to read the room as evidenced by the raw emotions that a recent vigil for Washington whose friends and family called Drew just ask [Applause] do you feel like this mayor doesn't feel this community's loss no I don't I don't think so I think he spoke at a turn when he the way he made the comment about Drew um to to it made me feel as his aunt that uh he didn't care we just called to get help for someone with a mental crisis so you're telling me my nephew didn't deserve to see a medical health professional that helped with um mental illness that's not what the mayor was thinking he says the actual first response to the scene was from mental health professionals who deemed a situation dangerous enough to call in police the Arbiter of the facts in this case is going to be the State Attorney General's office which says it's investigating and could release the body cam footage of the incident as early as next week the Mayors must be said is running for governor and that's a prism through which everything he does for the next year plus will be colored this kind of thing projects an image of you as well across the state look I mean look yeah I'm I'm aware of that but look the politically easy thing to do in many circles within the Democratic party is to criticize the police and to be in that can my job as mayor is to call balls and Strikes it's one thing to be seen as a competent crisis manager but right now in this neighborhood residents want fewer baseball metaphors and a little more empathy at least Drew was more than a statistic he was a son a cousin a brother a friend he was also a sufferer of bipolar disorder a condition that needed medical attention not the barrel of a gun imagine they didn't try and enter the room we would have been having a different conversation today about how the police can sit outside when they were aware that somebody could harm themselves in that situation and how could they let somebody bleed out and die when they're five feet away outside the room there's a discussion to be had here about how these tragedies could be avoided or if they could be avoided at all but with the mayor and police seemingly on one wavelength and the family and community on another it's difficult to see where they might ever come into sync I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news [Music] [Music]