Police in New York shot dead a 19-year-old Bangladeshi man inside his apartment after he called 911 in mental distress yesterday, according to The New York Times.
NYT reported that the family of the deceased, Win Rozario, immigrated from Bangladesh 10 years ago. He was declared dead shortly after the shooting, which occurred around 1:45pm in his family's second-floor apartment in New York City's Queens borough.
He was shot with his mother in the room, trying to salvage the situation.
Police said he threatened officers with a pair of scissors and they opened fire in a scenario they described as "chaotic", according to NYT.
However, Rozario's brother, who was present when the shooting took place, challenged some of the police narrative, claiming that his mother was holding her son when he was shot and that the policemen did not need to use their guns, according to a New York Times report.
John Chell, the police department's chief of patrol, said at a news conference that the shooting took place after two officers answering a 911 call about a person in mental distress went to the apartment, where the situation became "quite hectic, chaotic and dangerous right away".
According to the chief, Rozario "came towards" the officers and took scissors out of a drawer when they attempted to take him into custody. Both officers fired their tasers at Rozario and appeared to have him subdued, the chief said.
He added that Rozario's mother did what mothers do and came to his aid, in the process unintentionally knocking the tasers out of his body. Rozario then picked up the scissors and attacked the officers once more, Chell said.
"They [the police officials] were forced to use their firearms in self-defence."
Rozario's 17-year-old brother, Ushto Rozario, contradicted the police account in an interview, according to the NYT report.
He said his mother had been holding his brother in her arms throughout the encounter.
"As my mother was still hugging him, they shot him with the taser ... and my brother didn't really go down. So, one of the cops pulled out a gun and shot him as my mother was still hugging him."
He said the shooting was unnecessary.
"First of all, it was two police officers against him. And my mother was already holding him, so he couldn't really do anything."
He added, "I don't think a pair of scissors is threatening to two police officers."
Chief Chell did not say how many times Rozario was shot. Rozario's family said it was six times. The entire episode was captured by officers' body-worn cameras, the chief said. The footage is yet to be released, the NYT report said.
Francis Rozario, Ushto and Win's father, said the family had immigrated to New York from Bangladesh 10 years ago and that Win's dream was to join the US military. His plans had been held up, however, by a delay in the family's obtaining their green cards, which the elder Rozario said had been approved last year.
Win Rozario had graduated from John Adams High School in Ozone Park two years ago and had been depressed recently, Ushto said.
Francis said Win had been hospitalised briefly last year with mental health problems.
Nelima Efroze owns the house where the Rozarios have been living for the last four years, and lives with her family in the apartment below the Rozarios. She said that had been good tenants who were quiet and always paid their rent on time.
Kenneth Clark, a retired fire department shop worker who lives two doors away from where the shooting occurred, said he was in his car in front of a nearby church waiting for a parking space to become available when he saw a police squad car pull up around 1:30 p.m.
The officers went into the apartment building "and the next thing you knew you heard some loud arguing and then a shot, and then in a minute or two later you heard three or four more shots," Mr. Clark, 70, said.
