Family of New Jersey woman fatally shot by New Brunswick Police demands answers

The family of a New Jersey woman fatally shot by New Brunswick Police officers is demanding answers.

They say she struggled with mental illness and that the shooting could have been prevented.

Video shows deadly police shooting in New Brunswick

The shooting happened Aug. 8 inside a building on Nielson Street.

Police got a call early that morning from neighbors about Deborah Terrell, 68, holding a knife while pacing in the hallway.

Cellphone video shared by Terrell's family shows at least four officers responding and trying to engage with Terrell, who at that point was in her apartment behind a locked door.

Officials say Terrell exited her apartment with a knife, and officers tried to subdue her with pepper spray and a Taser.

Video then shows an officer fall to the ground. Within seconds, a shot is fired, and Terrell is struck by a bullet and killed.

CBS News New York reached out to the New Brunswick Police Department and has not yet heard back.

Family pushing for accountability from police department

Family members say Terrell had long battled schizophrenia.

"They didn't give her opportunity to respond to command," nephew Tormel Pittman said.

Terrell was a mother and a great-grandmother.

"Her house was always open to everyone, you know. She invited, she offered to babysit her great nieces and nephews," Pittman said.

Pittman said he wants the answer to one simple question.

"What happened? And no one seems to be able to answer that question," he said. "We won't get an honest answer because they're evading accountability."

The New Jersey attorney general's office is investigating, but it could take weeks or months for them to release their findings.

In the meantime, family members say they will keep pushing for accountability and for changes in how police respond to people in crisis.