TOWN OF DEWITT – Body camera footage released late last month depicts the pursuit of a Jamesville teen who ran away from a mobile crisis unit on March 4, 2021 and was shot and killed by law enforcement later that day.
Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation has released eight redacted videos of the police encounter with 17-year-old Judson Albahm, though the officers said to have fired the fateful shots were not wearing body cameras.
It was believed during the chase that Albahm potentially had a lethal weapon in his possession, but upon closer inspection in the moments after the shooting, officers discovered that he had been wielding an air gun made to replicate a Glock pistol.
Earlier on in the day, the teenager had reportedly darted away from individuals attempting to transport him to the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
His mother called police for assistance in finding him so that he could be brought in for mental health treatment.
The Albahm family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two of the three law enforcement agencies involved as well as the specific officers who discharged their weapons at the scene.
Those four officers have been identified as New York State Trooper Corey Fike, Sgt. Amy Bollinger of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office and investigators Lucas Byron and Matthew Menard from the DeWitt Police Department.
In the videos released by the attorney general’s office, gunfire can be heard, followed by a pause and then more gunfire about 10 seconds later. At these points, the officers wearing body cams respond by immediately seeking cover.
In the subsequent minutes, officers begin to converge beside Albahm’s body on the snowy ground near a wooded area off Apulia Road in Jamesville.
The investigation into the incident is still ongoing.