Nyah Mway Utica teen boy shot dead by Officer Patrick Husnay after flashing pellet gun as he fled police who had stopped the boy and another minor for questioning following reports of a robbery.
An upstate New York 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by cops after allegedly flashing a pellet gun during a foot chase. The incident has since led to community outrage and accusations of what they decry as police overkill.
Nyah Mway was fatally shot by a Utica police officer Friday night circa 10.20pm after police stopped him and another minor while they were walking down the street believing they fit the profile of alleged robbery suspects reported earlier that evening.
Police Bodycam video shows an officer asking to pat down Mway, who is Asian, in search of a possible weapon, only for the boy to run away with officers then pursuing the teen.
US police have released bodycam footage that shows officers fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy in Utica, New York.
Nyah Mway, a refugee from Myanmar, was running from officers while holding a pellet gun before he was tackled, punched and shot at point-blank range. pic.twitter.com/bEqYC2SRhb
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 30, 2024
‘He just shot him!’
As Myay, flees from police, bodycam video shows the boy display what appeared to be a handgun. It would later be revealed to be a toy pellet gun, officials disclosed during a Saturday press conference.
As three officers chase the boy down a dark street, one of the officers, tackles Myay to the ground. As the other two officers descend on the boy, bystanders are heard yelling at the officers.
A woman can be heard yelling ‘Careful, careful, yo, careful. You’re on camera.’
Suddenly, a gunshot rings out.
‘Oh my God! Yo! He just shot him!’ a witness is heard saying in video released by the Rome Sentinel.
A community outraged
In a released statement, police said the officers believed Mway was holding and pointing a firearm at the officers.
Addressing a large community gathering, Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said officers tackled the teen to the ground and fired one shot ‘during a ground struggle’.
As the tussle continues, one of the officers wielding a gun can be heard shouting, ‘Drop it! Drop it!’ before a gunshot is fired.
The boy was shot in the chest and died from his wounds at Wynn Hospital in Utica, the police chief said.
A replica Glock pellet gun with a detachable magazine was recovered, the chief said.
Utica Mayor Michael Galime stated that while the police stop was routine, ‘it became tragic in mere moments.’
‘I cannot express, in words, that this point cannot change what has forever changed as of yesterday evening,’ Galime said.
‘Our condolences to the families, the community and all of Utica and the surrounding areas for what is going on during this event.’
The incident has since led to demands that the officers needed to be charged with first-degree murder, according to Syracuse.com.
While others decried the boy’s shooting death as yet another example of ongoing persecution of the large Burmese community who live in the area.
Others meanwhile wondered how the boy came to be roaming the streets late at night, along with how or why he was carrying the pellet gun. While others wondered why the boy hadn’t simply surrendered the replica gun he was carrying.
Justice for Nyah Mway
Mway’s mother who had attended Saturday’s press conference broke down and screamed as officials’ remarks were translated into her native Burmese.
The Attorney General’s office will now be investigating the shooting.
It will also be internally investigated by the Utica Police Department.
Utica Police identified the officers involved as Patrick Husnay, a six-year veteran of the Utica Police Department and the cop identified as firing his gun, Bryce Patterson, a four-year veteran; and Andrew Citriniti, who has been on the force for two-and-a-half years.
The three officers involved have been placed on paid leave.
Mway had only just graduated from middle school two days earlier according to his family.
A GoFundMe page set up by the boy’s family described him as ‘an outgoing kid who loved to be outside biking and playing.’ The family said he was ‘a good kid’ who ‘has never gotten in trouble with law enforcement before.’
As of Sunday late afternoon, the fundraiser had raised just over $20K of a $50K goal.
