Family of NYC teen killed by police during mental health crisis sues city, NYPD

The family of a Queens teen whom police shot and killed in front of his mother and brother while he was experiencing a mental health crisis is suing the city, the NYPD and the officers involved.

Police killed Win Rozario, who was 19, in his Ozone Park home after he called 911 to report his own "erratic" behavior. Body-camera footage shows officers shooting Rozario with a Taser — and then with a gun — less than two minutes after they entered his family's apartment. The video shows his mother, Notan Eva Costa, and his 17-year-old bro

ther, Utsho Rozario, standing feet away, pleading with the officers not to shoot.

“We know this lawsuit won’t give us true justice, but we’re fighting for Win with every tool we have,” Rozario’s family said in a statement. “We wish Win was still with us and pray that what we do helps prevent other families from having to go through this.”

The suit, shared first with Gothamist, accuses Officers Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco of violating NYPD policy, using excessive force and disregarding Win Rozario’s rights. It also accuses the city and police department of failing New Yorkers with mental illness. The legal complaint follows years of calls from loved ones, advocates and elected officials for city agencies to find better ways to respond to mental health crises.

“This case exemplifies why police should not be handling any response to anything related to mental health,” Luna Droubi, an attorney for the Rozario family, said in an interview. “They are ill-equipped, they repeatedly escalate and they cause harm, including death, time after time.”

Rozario’s family is seeking financial compensation for what they allege were violations of his rights, as well as the pain caused by his death. They questioned why the officers who responded that day have not been fired, arrested or prosecuted. The state attorney general’s office, which is required by law to investigate all killings by law enforcement in New York, is still reviewing Rozario’s death.

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, the union representing officers, said in a statement that the case “underscores the difficult reality police officers face when they respond to many calls.” For this 911 call, he said, the officers faced an individual with a weapon. “They were trying to minimize the risks to everyone in that room and were forced to make split-second decisions based on those risks,” Hendry said. “They deserve a fair investigation based on facts an d the law." Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesperson for the city law department, said the city will respond to the allegations in court papers after reviewing the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the NYPD did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shot and killed within two minutes

Win Rozario, who immigrated with his family from Bangladesh in 2014, experienced anxiety and depression throughout his life, according to his family’s lawsuit. The court papers say he was briefly hospitalized for mental health treatment in 2022 and 2023, but he had been feeling better in the last six months of his life after taking medication and receiving mental health care.

On March 27, 2024, Rozario called 911 on himself, posing as a parent, and told dispatchers, “I think my son is on drugs” and that he was acting “erratic.” Alongi and Cianfrocco arrived and spoke outside with Rozario’s younger brother Utsho, asking if Win was “a bipolar” or “schizo,” according to the lawsuit and body-camera footage.

The footage shows the officers walking up a flight of stairs and into the family’s home, where Win stood in the back of the kitchen. The video shows him taking a pair of kitchen scissors. As his mother, Costa, tried to take the scissors away, Alongi fired his Taser at Win, according to the suit.

Costa held Win and pulled the scissors out of his hands, the footage shows. As Utsho watched from the adjoining room with his hands up, he asked the officers, “Please don’t shoot my mother.”

“We’re not,” one of the officers can be heard yelling. “Tell her to get the f— out of the way.”

Alongi fired his Taser at Win Rozario a second time, body-camera footage shows. Then Win grabbed the scissors again and walked toward the officers, according to the footage. Cianfrocco fired one bullet at Win's arm while Costa was still holding onto him, the lawsuit alleges. The video shows Utsho pleading with his mother to move and physically pulling her away from his brother.

“Please do not shoot my mom,” he cried as the officers pointed their guns and shouted at him to get his mother out of the way. “I’m so sorry.”

Cianfrocco then shot Win Rozario four times in his chest, according to the lawsuit. Lawyers for the family said in court papers that the officers proceeded to handcuff Win while he was face down on the floor, writhing in pain. After cuffing him, officers called for emergency medical workers and started chest compressions, the suit states.

Rozario was pronounced dead at Jamaica Medical Center, according to the suit. But the complaint states police wouldn’t let Costa and Utsho go to the hospital and instead took them to the station for questioning. Police informed them after questioning them that Win had died, the lawsuit states.

Officers wouldn’t allow the family into their home for three days after the shooting, even to get Costa’s diabetes medication or feed their cat, according to the suit. When they returned, court papers say, Win Rozario’s blood still covered the floors and cabinets.

Not the only New Yorker killed by police while in mental health crisis

Win Rozario is one of at least 20 people whom police have killed while those people were experiencing a mental health crisis since 2015, according to the lawsuit. Others include Kawaski Trawick, a 32-year-old who officers shot in his Bronx apartment while he held a kitchen knife and said he was cooking.

Researchers have found people with serious mental illness face a higher chance of experiencing police use of force. The Rozario family’s suit also points to a 2017 report from the NYPD inspector general’s office that highlighted deficiencies in the department’s training for mental health calls.

The city has taken several steps to improve its response to mental health emergencies, including implementing crisis-intervention training for NYPD officers. Several years ago, the city launched a program called B-HEARD — the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division — which sends mental health workers to some 911 calls. But the program only operates 16 hours a day and has been rolled out in less than half of NYPD precincts, not including the one where Rozario was killed. B-HEARD also only responds to situations where there is no known threat of violence, which means police might not have gone to Rozario's home even if there had been a team available.

Officer Matthew Cianfrocco, who has worked for the NYPD since 2015, is now assigned to the Queens court section, according to police records. Records show Officer Salvatore Alongi, who joined the department in 2008, is now assigned to the NYPD’s building maintenance section. Neither has faced any substantiated civilian complaints.

According to NYPD records, both officers attended a training for “tactics when engaging with individuals in a mental health crisis” months after responding to the call at Rozario’s home. Police records show they also both attended a crisis-intervention team training before the shooting — Alongi about two years earlier and Cianfrocco more than four years earlier.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Patrick Hendry's title. He is the Police Benevolent Association president.
This story has been updated to include comment from the city law department and the police union.