On March 27, 2024, NYPD officers shot and killed Win Rozario, 19, after arriving in the midst of his mental health crisis. Over two years later, Rozario’s family is still seeking justice.
They gathered in Jackson Heights on April 1 alongside community members and the social justice group Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) to call on NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fire the officers involved. In December, the office of state Attorney General Letitia James declined to prosecute the officers.
“These systems need to be changed. Otherwise, more families like mine will be forced to live with this emptiness and grief. People call 911 to get help,” said Rozario’s mother, Notan Eva Costa, in remarks translated from Bangla. “But because of this broken system, many are now afraid to call 911. I urge the authorities to fix this system and work to rebuild trust with the public.”
According to the state attorney general’s investigation, Rozario made the 911 call himself, reporting a person “on drugs” and behaving erratically. Within minutes of arriving at his Ozone Park home, Officers Salvator Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco shot Rozario five times, killing him. When they first encountered Rozario, his brother and mother within the house, Rozario picked up scissors from a kitchen drawer and moved towards the officers.
One officer fired a Taser at Rozario after backing away from him. His mother pushed him to the floor, took the scissors from his hand, and placed them on a nearby chair. When officers shouted at her to move, she stepped back and said “Don’t shoot.” The first officer fired a second Taser round.
Rozario removed a prong from his shoulder, picked up the scissors, and advanced toward the first officer. The second officer fired his service weapon, striking Rozario. His mother and brother pushed him back into the kitchen and disarmed him, but both fell to the floor. Rozario picked up the scissors again and stepped toward the officers, who yelled “Put it down” before firing four more shots in succession. The entire encounter lasted 90 seconds.
The state attorney general’s office declined to press charges because Rozario did not “comply with repeated commands to drop the scissors” as he advanced towards the officers.
“Therefore, the reasonableness of the officers’ fear that Mr. Rozario would come at them again with the scissors cannot be disproved beyond a reasonable doubt,” the office said in a press release.
Family members pushed back in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in June 2025, saying that officers could have deescalated the crisis. The Civilian Complaint Review Board has recommended misconduct charges, including excessive force and abuse of authority, against the two officers. A departmental trial date is still pending.
Over the last 10 years, the NYPD has killed 24 people while responding to mental health emergencies. In January, officers also shot 21-year-old Jabez Chakraborty of Queens after his parents called 911 requesting an ambulance for his mental health crisis.
Chakraborty remains in the hospital receiving mental health treatment and recovering from gunshot wounds. A Queens judge declined to dismiss assault and criminal possession of a weapon charges against him on Wednesday.
At the rally, his father, Hector Chakraborty, said his family had navigated New York City’s mental health system for “years,” and that his son didn’t get placement into a treatment program until he was shot by the police.
“How can we live in the richest country of the world and not have a better solution for people struggling with their mental health?” said Hector Chakraborty. “Win Rozario should be alive. Jabez should be able to walk.”
Advocates fear the impact these incidents can have on the Bangladeshi community’s willingness to seek help for their family members. Asian Americans are already among the least likely to seek mental health services — and as DRUM Executive Director Fahd Ahmed noted, culturally competent care is hard to find.
“The number of providers are limited, the number of providers that are there that are actually competent — and don’t end up reinforcing some of the stigmatizing views that exist within the community — is also quite limited,” Ahmed told Epicenter NYC.
Even when families do seek help, the city’s crisis infrastructure has gaps. New York City has a pilot program called B-HEARD, which pairs mental health professionals alongside police officers for mental health crisis calls. It’s only active in a select few precincts — not including those where Rozario and Chakraborty live. Even if the program had covered his precinct, Rozario’s case would not have qualified. His own 911 call reported a person on drugs, which B-HEARD does not cover. And when B-HEARD is available, analysis by The City shows that police have also responded to 86% of mental health emergency calls since July 2025.
The state attorney general’s office has recommended that B-HEARD be expanded citywide. Mayor Mamdani’s new Office of Community Safety will oversee the B-HEARD program, taking a step toward fulfilling one of his campaign promises to reduce police involvement in mental health crises.
But social justice advocates are calling for mental health crisis responses that don’t involve police, saying their presence can exacerbate these emergencies, especially for people of color.
“The fact that the same incident with the same pattern keeps happening over and over again indicates to us that there is a systematic problem that individuals or families call for help when they need mental health support, the police shows up,” Ahmed said at the rally.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams highlighted that the Rozario family was focused not just on accountability but on changing the system so other families don’t face the similar tragedy.
“Right now, our system is best equipped to provide a criminal response for someone who needs a health response,” said Williams. “Two years have passed, and we haven’t changed much in those two years.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
