N.J. Police Shooting of 68-year-old Woman with Disability Sparks Community Outrage as They Seek Answers

Aug. 22, 2025, 8:51 a.m.

Residents and activist protested outside of city hall in New Brunswick over the police shooting of Deborah Terrell on Aug. 21, 2025.

By Jelani Gibson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Brunswick and state officials are facing heated questions from residents and family members about transparency and accountability after a 68-year-old woman was shot and killed by police earlier this month.

Deborah Terrell was killed by New Brunswick police on Aug. 8 when they responded to a 911 call that a resident was walking around with a knife. Terrell was known by community members to have a mental disability, and they’re asking why weren’t mental health providers sent to co-respond with the police.

The Attorney General’s office, which investigates all police-involved shootings, said the police officers first communicated with Terrell through the closed door. Then, police claimed she came into the hallway with a knife. Police then used pepper spray and a taser, and then one officer shot her.

The Attorney General’s office said the officers provided first aid and took her to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.

However, bystander video shows how quickly the encounter happened and the few chaotic seconds in which one of the officers trips and falls into the other cops.

The video raised questions among some community members about whether this commotion, rather than Terrell’s actions, prompted officers to pepper spray, tase, and shoot her.

“You call the cops to help you out and then there’s a problem,” said Linda McCalla, Terrell’s sister.

Community members packed New Brunswick city hall Thursday with signs and pictures, as they asked local officials during the public comment portion of the meeting to release more info.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s declined to give a recent update.

Sources close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the investigation was “substantially completed” and that additional details and body camera footage would be released.

Hours before the gathering, Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, D-Middlesex, released a statement on social media saying he was taken aback by the shooting.

“Like many, I was shocked to learn her life ended during a police-involved shooting in New Brunswick,” Danielsen said. “Deborah Terrell was a lifelong resident of New Brunswick, a mother and a sister. I can’t begin to imagine the pain Ms. Terrell’s family and friends are feeling right now.”

Residents had a right to answers, Danielsen said.

“I strongly believe the law and justice demand that the process be allowed to run its full course before we come to any conclusions,” he said. “I also suggest that our community continue to demand answers using a thorough process and without unnecessary delays.”

To better assist police officers who respond to mental health calls, New Jersey launched the ARRIVE Together program in 2021 and it has since been made available in more than 200 towns. The program pairs a crisis intervention trained officer with a crisis screener to provide on-scene assistance to those experiencing a mental health or behavioral health emergency. The program is meant to reduce the use of force in encounters between law enforcement and people with mental illness or substance use disorder.

The Attorney General’s office and city officials would not say whether or not a request for mental health professionals was put in, but a representative for the ARRIVE Together of Middlesex County did say the program responds in New Brunswick.

Zayid Muhammad, an activist with New Jersey Communities for Accountable Policing asked why the program wasn’t used in this instance.

“Why can’t four professionally trained armed men detain a 120 pound 68-year-old woman without killing her? Why wasn’t Attorney General [Matthew] Platkin’s highly touted ARRIVE Together unit available, and why hasn’t Middlesex County put in and made an effort to build out a community-led crisis response team after being designated a county able to develop such a pilot?”

The meeting started with council members giving condolences for the killing. Those in attendance found little consolation in the words.

Some constituents asked the council why police and mayoral leadership was absent from the room.

“I don’t know,” replied city council president John Anderson.

The exchange was one of many heated interactions with constituents that defined the night.

The council meeting was switched from City Hall to a municipal court venue, where increased security and a metal detector was present, a detail that wasn’t lost on residents as they criticized the council in unison.

During the public meeting, some went inside and continued to protest outside, with some expressing anger at not being let in and given the chance to speak.

Chants of “ask them” echoed in the public meeting chambers when city council members mentioned the shooting was being investigated by the state.

“It’s out of local hands,” said city council president John Anderson.

Two council members, Petra Gaskins and Glenn Fleming, agreed to a resolution asking the Attorney General’s office to release the videos and names of the police officers involved, but Anderson declined to take it up – even after other council members agreed to do so.

The city attorney, T.K. Shamy, interrupted the attempt and asserted that the resolution could not compel the state to release evidence.

Dupre McCalla, Terrell’s nephew, said during the public comment session that he was distraught by the news of the shooting.

“My aunt, she had disabilities, but you can’t spell the word disability without the word ability, and my aunt had great abilities,” he said.

Minister Archange Antoine of the Clergy Coalition for Liberation called for the city to set up a fund to pay for the funeral expenses for the families of those killed by the police.

Linda McCalla, Terrell’s sister, said the city and the state’s response left her and other family members in the dark.

“It’s hard,” she said. “It’s just hard.”

Jelani Gibson

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Jelani Gibson may be reached at jgibson@njadvancemedia.com.