BROOKLYN — The family of an unarmed bodybuilder accidentally shot dead by police as he tried to help officers subdue a knife-wielding man plans to sue the city, the NYPD and the police officers involved in the shooting in a $25 million lawsuit.
Rafael Laureano Sr. was fatally hit in the back by a police bullet on Sept. 29, assisting police batter down a door where one of Laureano's friends was being attacked by an angry ex-boyfriend, according the the slain man's family.
Police admitted he was shot accidentally.
"I feel terrible and it’s something that shouldn’t have happened,” Laureano’s son, Rafael Laureano Jr. told DNAInfo. “In a situation like that, (police officers) should not have had my father near them or any other civilians by the way.”
The family claims negligence and wrongful death at the hands of police, according to the Nov. 12 filing.
It all started as a quiet dinner with friends in Kensington on Sept. 29.
Katarzyna (Kathy) Russo, her two kids, and Laureano — who had met at the Spartan Health Club where he worked as a manager and personal trainer — were having Mexican food at her Ocean Parkway apartment.
"We were having tacos with the kids when the ex-boyfriend knocked on the door," Russo, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mom, said.
Francisco Carvajal, 47, was carrying two knives and forced his way inside Russo's seventh-floor apartment, she said.
Russo immediately grabbed her 6-year-old girl and her 7-year-old boy and rushed to bathroom while Laureano and Carvajal started fighting, she said.
Around the same time, Nina, a neighbor who lives on the same floor as Russo, said she opened her door because she heard kids screaming.
"I saw a ... man at the end of the corridor. He walked to my side (of the corridor). He was followed by another man with a knife," said Nina, who did not want to give her last name.
"He told me 'Get inside. That man wants to kill me and he will kill you too,'" she remembered.
Laureano ducked into Nina's apartment, closed the door behind him and called the police, Nina said, while Carvajal went back to Russo's apartment, slamming the door behind him.
After calling the police, Laureano went back to Russo's apartment but the front door was locked. He and a few other neighbors started banging on the door, Nina said.
“We could hear the children yelling, screaming,” she remembered.
At least three police officers arrived at the scene shortly after 7:20 p.m. in response to the 911 call.
Unable to open the door, police officers asked Laureano for help, Laureano's girlfriend Sarah Figueroa said.
“He was bigger so they probably assumed that, you know, he could do the job, he could break it down, and he did,” Figueroa told DNAinfo.
Once inside the apartment, police officers ordered Carvajal to drop his knife and when he refused, they fired several shots, killing both Carvajal and Laureano, officials said.
“They should have called for backup. You don’t just ask a civilian to come break down this door down for you. If they had done proper protocol, he’d still be here,” Figueroa said, adding she and Laureano had planned on getting married on Dec. 20.
The police first said that Carvajal had stabbed Laureano multiple times but his body showed no stab wounds, sources said. The NYPD later said Laureano was "inadvertently hit" when police fired shots. The city’s medical examiner office ruled that he died from a gunshot wound on his back.
Laureano’s son claims the police officers involved in the shooting did not get his father the appropriate help and potentially participated in an attempt to cover up what had happened, according to the notice obtained by DNAinfo.
The NYPD did not return emails asking if the officers involved in the shooting had been placed on modified duty since the accident.
"The internal investigation is ongoing," a NYPD spokesman said.
Relatives described Laureano Sr., who arrived in New York as a child from Puerto Rico, as a generous man who loved working out.
“If you needed help with something, you could go to him with anything. He was a really good guy,” said his son who lived with Laureano and Figueroa in a Sheepshead Bay apartment for many years.
“He was very family-oriented,” said Figueroa who had known Laureano for 28 years and had been dating him for the past 13 years.
The lawyer for the family said that what his clients really want are answers.
"No amount of money will bring back Rafael Laureano to his children," lawyer Abe George said. "This lawsuit is about finding answers as to what led to Rafael Laureano Sr.’s death, and to make sure that no other families have to go through what the Laureano family have gone through"
