Police officer shoots 13-year-old boy with replica firearm, police say

NEW YORK (AP) – A police officer in upstate New York shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was knocked to the ground as he ran from police while carrying a replica gun, authorities said Saturday.

The teenager was killed in Utica shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday after officers in the city about 250 miles northwest of Manhattan stopped two teens in connection with the investigation of an armed robbery, police said.

The two teens, both 13 years old, matched the description of the robbery suspects and were in the same area at about the same time the next day, police said. One of them was also walking in the street, a violation of the state’s traffic laws.

A body camera video released by police shows an officer saying he had to pat the two down to make sure they weren’t carrying weapons. One of the two, identified by police as Nyah Mway, immediately runs away.

Authorities have frozen frames of the video showing Nyah Mway running and pointing her gun at pursuing police officers. Police have also edited the video to add a red circle around the gun to show it to viewers.

Officers believed it was a pistol, police said, but it later turned out to be a replica Glock 17 Gen 5 pistol with a detachable magazine.

“During a ground struggle” with the teenager, one of the officers fired a single shot that hit the boy in the chest, said Utica Police Chief Mark Williams.

Officers provided “immediate” first aid to the teenager and he was taken to Wynn Hospital, where he died, the police chief said.

The replica gun carried by the teenager “looks realistic in every way, with GLOCK markings, signatures, detachable magazine and serial numbers,” police spokesman Lt. Michael Curley said by email. “Ultimately, however, it only fires pellets or BBs.”

A video posted on Facebook by a passerby shows one of the police officers chasing Nyah Mway and throwing him to the ground. It also shows the officer punching the teenager as two more police officers arrive. As the teenager lies on the ground, a gunshot rings out and the police officers quickly get up.

The officer who fired his weapon was identified as Patrick Husnay, who has worked for the department for six years. Husnay and officers Bryce Patterson and Andrew Citriniti were placed on paid administrative leave.

The police bodycam video shows a chaotic scene.

Nyah Mway points a replica gun at the police officers as he runs away from them. The police officers shout “gun!” at each other as they run away. Patterson then attacks Nyah Mway and punches him, and as the two wrestle on the ground, Husnay opens fire.

Officers initially thought Nyah Mway may have shot himself, and Patterson said, “I don’t know if he shot me.” It is not clear if he means Nyah Mway or his colleague. Patterson was not hit.

Throughout the recording, passersby shout at police, and at one point an officer shouts back: “We’re trying to save him!”

The other youth was detained in the back seat of a police vehicle and was not involved in the shooting.

During his “public safety statement,” a brief interview usually conducted after a shootout with police to ensure there is no further threat, Husnay said he fired one shot “directly at the ground.” He did not know if Nyah Mway had fired at the police officers, but said he believed the weapon was a .22-caliber pistol.

Police released the bodycam videos after a public outcry as the shooting rocked Utica, a city of 65,000 people, where more than 4,200 people from Myanmar live, according to The Center, a nonprofit that helps resettle the refugees.

Nyah Mway, who was in Grade 8 at Donovan Middle School according to local media reports, was identified as a Myanmar-born refugee and a member of the Karen ethnic minority.

Karen are an ethnic minority among the groups at war with the military rulers of Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma. The army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests demanding a return to democratic rule.

A tense news conference on Saturday ended early as Williams, the city’s mayor, and an interpreter struggled to speak amid repeated outbursts of anger from the audience. Community members, including the teen’s family, were in attendance.

The police department is conducting an internal investigation to determine whether officers followed policies and training. The state’s attorney general will open its own investigation to determine whether the shooting was justified.

“I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased during this difficult time,” Williams said. “This is a tragic and traumatic incident for everyone involved.”

___

Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.