Buffalo Refugee’s Death Ruled Homicide 

It's been a little over a month since Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a partially blind refugee from the Rohingya area of Myanmar, who didn't speak any English and who was in the United States legally, was found dead just a few steps from the KeyBank Center.

The time between when Shah Alam was released from the custody of the Erie County Sheriffs Department on Thursday, February 19, 2026, and when his body was found on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, has received major national coverage. While there are a lot of questions about what happened when Shah Alam was picked up by US Customs and Border Protection and then later dropped off at a closed Tim Hortons in Buffalo's Riverside Neighborhood when temperatures were below freezing.

One answer that we now know, according to the Erie County Medical Examiner, Shah Alam's death is now considered a homicide.

An autopsy was done by the Erie County Department of Health after Shah Alam was found dead, and the results of that autopsy were released by officials in a press conference on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, where the physiological circumstances that caused Shah Alam's death.

The Erie County ME’s Office determined that in this case, the cause of death was complications of a perforated duodenal ulcer precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration, and the manner of death was homicide... The Erie County ME's office determination is an evidence-based medical conclusion made by a board-certified pathologist, informed by a physical examination, laboratory testing, and review of all available medical and investigative materials.
-Office of the Erie County Medical Examiner

Hypothermia and dehydration caused a perforated duodenal ulcer to form in his stomach, and while law county, state, and federal law enforcement are continuing to investigate the criminal implications that exist, if any, it's clear that this was a terrible way to die.

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