NEW YORK (PIX 11) — Friends, family, and community members renewed their calls for justice after 19-year-old Win Rozario was fatally shot by NYPD officers last March while suffering a mental health crisis.
Candles and flowers were laid by a picture of the late teen as loved ones gathered for a vigil Thursday. Utsho Rozario is still coping with his brother’s death.
“If any of us had done what they had done, we would have been arrested,” he said. “No more double standards. We demand removal of all cops from mental health.”
According to police, Rozario was suffering a mental health crisis on March 27th and called 911 on himself. Officers Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvatore Alongi responded to the family’s home in Ozone Park.
Body cam footage showed the minutes leading up to the shooting. Rozario could be seen in the footage walking to a kitchen drawer and pulling out a pair of scissors.
He ran toward the officers before his mother, Notan Eva Costa, pulled him back. Both officers deployed their stun guns on Rozario while his mom continued holding him.
She could be seen in the video taking the scissors away from him before Rozario grabbed the scissors again and lunged at the officers. A gunshot rang out, and the struggle continued, with officers telling Costa to move out of the way before Rozario was shot.
Loved ones are calling on the NYPD to fire the officers and for Attorney General Letitia James’ Office to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
As the vigil came to an end, they marched to the 102nd precinct, holding signs, chanting, and demanding accountability. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams stood with the family at the vigil.
“It’s been a year,” Williams said. “No one has been disciplined. Nothing has changed about how the NYPD answers these calls. That makes no sense at all. At some point we have to be tired enough, care about these lives enough, to do something different.”
The NYPD told PIX 11 that the incident remains under investigation by the department’s Force Investigation Division, and the attorney general’s office also confirmed that its probe remains ongoing.
A spokesperson for the family said they are actively pursuing a lawsuit against the city and stressed that their main priority is getting justice for Rozario’s death.
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