The death of a nearly blind refugee from Myanmar who was left by Border Patrol at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Buffalo has been ruled a homicide.

The 56-year-old man, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, was found dead on a street in February, five days after Border Patrol agents said they dropped him off at the donut shop near his last known address, according to the Associated Press. Authorities on Wednesday announced that the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Shah Alam’s death a homicide.

The medical examiner’s office didn’t reach any conclusions about responsibility for Shah Alam’s death, which the agency said was caused by complications of a perforated duodenal ulcer, precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration. Ruling a death a homicide means it resulted from another person’s actions or inaction, but doesn’t necessarily indicate that a crime was committed.

“This should not have happened,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz (D) said at a news conference Wednesday. When asked whether Border Patrol was responsible for Shah Alam’s death, Poloncarz declined to comment and said any such determination would be up to law enforcement agencies.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Erie County District Attorney Mike Keane, each Democrats, said Wednesday that their offices have been reviewing the case. Keane said that his office had requested Shah Alam’s full autopsy report, but declined to comment further.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday pointed to its previous statement that Shah Alam “showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance” when agents dropped him off on Feb. 19 at a Tim Hortons restaurant.

“This death had NOTHING to do” with Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security said in a Feb. 27 social media post, calling news coverage of the case an effort “to demonize our law enforcement.”

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, also called for accountability for everyone involved, and said her aides spoke to the district attorney Wednesday afternoon. Hochul criticized “the cruelty and inhumanity” of leaving a man who could barely see or speak English outside a then-closed restaurant.

CBP has said that Tim Hortons was chosen as “a warm, safe location” near Shah Alam’s last known address.

Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein said that Shah Alam developed what is known as a stress ulcer, which was brought on by dehydration and exposure to the cold. The ulcer breached his intestinal wall, causing what is generally a very painful medical emergency that needs rapid treatment, she said.

Shah Alam came to the U.S. from Malaysia in December 2024 as a refugee with his wife and two of his children, after he had left Myanmar years earlier, according to advocates for the family. He was a member of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, which has faced discrimination and oppression in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Shah Alam was in the Erie County jail for about a year on felony assault and other charges after a 2025 struggle with police who encountered him carrying what appeared to be curtain rods. Police said he bit two officers, and advocates for his family said that he hadn’t understood the officers’ commands to drop the items he was carrying.

Shah Alam eventually pleaded guilty to two lesser, misdemeanor charges and was released from jail on Feb. 19. Then Border Patrol briefly detained him before determining that he was ineligible for deportation. His family, who had been awaiting his release from jail, wasn’t informed that it occurred.

On Feb. 22, Shah Alam’s lawyer reported him missing to Buffalo police. Two days later, he was found dead near the downtown sports arena where the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres play. It is unclear how Shah Alam got there from the Tim Hortons, which is several miles away, and Burstein said Wednesday that it was impossible to determine exactly when he died.