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<\/p>\nThe Erie County Medical Examiner said Nurul Amin Shah Alam \u201cwas placed into a hostile environment\u201d that resulted in a burst ulcer triggered by stress, hypothermia and dehydration.<\/p>\n
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Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gail Burstein and County Executive Mark Poloncarz answer questions about Shah Alam autopsy. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker.<\/p>\n
The death of Rohingya refugee Nurul Amin Shah Alam has been ruled a homicide, according to the Erie County Medical Examiner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Homicide, the medical examiner\u2019s office said in a statement, can include death by negligence. In Shah Alam\u2019s case, an autopsy appears to pin that negligence on the Border Patrol agents who left him February 19 at a closed Tim Hortons in the Riverside neighborhood, some five miles from his home. Shah Alam died five days later outside the KeyBank Center hockey arena.<\/p>\n
Shah Alam, the autopsy notes, \u201cwas placed into a hostile environment that he could not reasonably be expected to extricate himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Medical Examiner\u2019s office said Wednesday that a burst ulcer in Shah Alam\u2019s small intestine caused his death. Exposure to the February cold and a lack of water \u2014 hypothermia and dehydration \u2014 \u201cprecipitated\u201d the ulcer, the Medical Examiner\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n
At a press conference Wednesday, Dr. Gale Burstein, the Erie County Commissioner of Health, said Shah Alam had developed a serious \u201cstress ulcer\u201d that, when it burst, ruptured his small intestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that acid and other digestive secretions spill out into the [body cavity],\u201d Dr. Burstein said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something that people can live with \u2026 for a very long period of time. It\u2019s a medical emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n
What remains unclear is when Shah Alam developed the ulcer, whether while incarcerated at the Erie County Holding Center or after he was transferred to Border Patrol custody. Burstein and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Wednesday they couldn\u2019t comment on that point.<\/p>\n
Video of Shah Alam being dropped off at Tim Hortons.<\/p>\n
Terrence Connors, an attorney representing Shah Alam\u2019s wife and sons, termed the Border Patrol\u2019s actions \u201cirresponsible and we intend to seek justice for his family and bring focus on the failures so that this never happens again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Connors shared a small portion of the autopsy\u2019s findings with Investigative Post but declined to provide a copy of the full report. Erie County officials said Wednesday they were prohibited by state law from releasing the report.<\/p>\n
In a brief interview, Connors said he was having medical experts examine the autopsy report in an attempt to determine when Shah Alam developed the ulcer. He added he was appreciative of the Medical Examiner\u2019s office for exercising \u201cindependence\u201d in this case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was concerned that there was a possibility that there would be some effort to brush aside the cause of death, but they have taken it head on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Connors indicated that his next step in representing Shah Alam\u2019s family is filing a lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we have the medical evidence and the cause of death, we will look into the filing of the necessary documents to hold the individuals and the entities responsible for his death,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked if he blamed Border Patrol for Shah Alam\u2019s death, Connors said he\u2019s \u201clooking at the Border Patrol as well as other entities.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Border Patrol did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Our continuing coverage<\/p>\n
New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an inquiry into Shah Alam\u2019s death. Her office has indicated its target is the Erie County Sheriff\u2019s Office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Shah Alam fled genocide to build a life in this country. Instead, he was abandoned and left to suffer alone in his final hours,\u201d James said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cNo New Yorker should be treated this way. My office is continuing our review of the circumstances and treatment that led to Mr. Shah Alam\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy said the Medical Examiner\u2019s ruling should result in newly-confirmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordering \u201can independent and transparent investigation.\u201d He added that Mullin\u2019s agency should cooperate with James\u2019 probe.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Shah Alam would be alive today with his family if he had access to medical care,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cInstead, he was callously abandoned on a cold winter night by Donald Trump\u2019s Department of Homeland Security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erie County District Attorney Mike Keane said his office had requested a copy of the autopsy and would \u201creview the findings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shah Alam, born in Myanmar (formerly called Burma), arrived in Buffalo as a refugee with his wife and two of his five sons in December 2024. The resettlement agency Jewish Family Services placed them in a home in Riverside. On February 15, 2025, Shah Alam, depressed and sick of the cold, ventured outside for a walk around his new neighborhood. Nearly blind, his attorneys and family have said he purchased a curtain rod to use as a guide stick.<\/p>\n
While on his walk, Shah Alam got lost and ended up in the backyard of a house on Tonawanda Street. According to a police report, the couple alleged Shah Alam allowed the dog to escape and had damaged their shed.<\/p>\n
Upon arrival, Buffalo police ordered Shah Alam, who spoke little to no English, to drop his curtain rod. When he did not, police Tasered, tackled and punched him as they attempted to handcuff him. In the struggle, Shah Alam bit the two female officers who had responded to the call. Shah Alam was charged with felony assault, trespassing and possession of a weapon, his curtain rod.<\/p>\n
Shah Alam spent the next year locked up in the Erie County Holding Center. His attorneys and family said they opted to not bail him out because they feared ICE would detain him out of state and possibly deport him. If he remained in jail, they could at least visit him, they reasoned.<\/p>\n
Finally, in February, Keane\u2019s office agreed to drop most of the charges against Shah Alam. He pleaded guilty to trespassing and possession of a weapon \u2013 the curtain rod. One of his attorneys confirmed with ICE\u2019s lawyers that those offenses would not subject him to detention or deportation.<\/p>\n
Shah Alam was set to be released February 19. His son and attorney waited hours for him in a car outside the Holding Center. His wife said she was preparing clothes and a meal for him at home. It being Ramadan, she said she\u2019d hoped the family could break the daily fast together.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Erie County Sheriff\u2019s Office transferred Shah Alam to the custody of Border Patrol, which had placed a detainer on him. A sheriff\u2019s spokesperson told Investigative Post his office did not notify Shah Alam\u2019s family or attorney that they\u2019d done so.<\/p>\n
Border Patrol did not keep Shah Alam in its custody for long \u2013 about four hours. After determining he \u201cwas not amenable to removal\u201d agents drove Shah Alam to the Tim Hortons on the 2200 block of Niagara Street.<\/p>\n
According to video obtained by Investigative Post, a Border Patrol van dropped off Shah Alam shortly after 8 p.m. A spokesperson said agents did so because the coffee shop had been determined to be a \u201cwarm, safe location.\u201d The restaurant, however, was closed. Only the drive thru was open. In the video, Shah Alam can be seen walking past the drive thru window. He was wearing orange booties issued to him by the Holding Center.<\/p>\n
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Benjamin Macaluso, one of Shah Alam\u2019s lawyers, said he assumed ICE had taken his client to the detention center in Batavia. When he couldn\u2019t find him there, he and the family began searching around the city. Over the weekend, after Shah Alam had been missing for more than 48 hours, Macaluso filed a missing persons report with the Buffalo police.<\/p>\n