Police shot and killed a 19-year-old in his family’s Queens home on Wednesday afternoon after he called 911 while in a “mental crisis,” according to NYPD officials.
Win Rozaro was standing in the kitchen beside his mother when officers responded to the 911 call at their second-floor home in Ozone Park at around 1:40 p.m., police said. Officials said officers arrived within two minutes of Rozaro’s call.
“Our officers attempted to take the individual into custody and get him help,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news conference outside the home on Monday.
Rozaro then pulled a pair of scissors out of a drawer, police said, and officers used a Taser on him. Rozaro’s mother then came to help her son and “accidentally knocked the Tasers out of his body,” Chell said. The teen picked up the scissors again and “came at” police, at which point “the officers had no choice but to defend themselves,” Chell said.
The officers shot and killed Rozaro, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said.
When asked by a reporter, Chell said specialized officers trained in mental crisis response were not called to the scene.
“It was chaotic and fast-moving,” Chell said. “It’s a sad event all the way around.”
The shooting was captured on body-worn camera footage and is under investigation by the NYPD, authorities said.
In a statement, advocacy group Communities United for Police Reform spokesperson Loyda Colon said Rozaro should be still be alive.
“His mother should not have had to watch him die,” the statement said. “And while there can never be justice for the killing of this young person, there can be accountability. We can prevent future loss of life at the hands of the NYPD. “