NY Police Shoot, Kill 13-Year-Old Boy in Utica, Protests Erupt at City Hall

UTICA, NY – The screams of a grieving mother could be heard from City Hall during a news conference in upstate New York Saturday morning as officials detailed the officer-involved death of a 13-year-old member of the Karen community Friday night.

What started as murmurs turned into screams from all sides as Utika Mayor Michael Galime, through a translator, spoke to the mother and family of Nyah Mway, a 13-year-old from the Karen community with roots in Myanmar and Southeast Asia. -Eastern.

According to the mayor, Saturday’s press conference was originally intended for reporters, but due to the large number of participants, it was also made available to the general public.

“We called this press conference not only to explain and be completely transparent, but also to offer our condolences to the family and the community for their loss,” Galime said. “Yesterday evening, while an arrest like the one that occurred is routine, in a short period of time it became tragic. We understand that and we are here to be completely transparent and explain everything to the community about the incident and how it will proceed.”

Timeline of events

Police Chief Mark Williams then attempted to provide a chronology of events.

Williams said that around 10:18 p.m. Friday, Utica police stopped two juveniles on a tree-lined residential street.

One of the minors, a young man, escaped from the police. Williams said that during the chase that followed, the young man displayed “what appeared to be a firearm.”

At the press conference, the moment the police chief uttered those words, some of the people present – ​​more than 100 crammed into the city hall – began to shout. Anger rose among the crowd, which began to shout “No!” and tried to calm the crowd.

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Williams continued by saying the officer fired his gun once and struck the teen “while they struggled on the ground.” The 13-year-old was taken to Wynn Hospital, where he died from his wounds.

“Officers recovered a replica GLOCK 17 pistol with a detachable magazine, but it was ultimately determined to be a pellet gun,” Williams said. “We will release the names of the officers involved in the near future. We ask for your patience while the investigation continues.”

Shouts of outrage erupted from the crowd as they learned that three officers involved in the incident had been transferred to a paid administrative position while the investigation continued. One person loudly commented that the police were receiving “…paid leave.”

Galime told the audience that he wanted to be as transparent as possible and that he would invite the family and community representatives to talks with city officials immediately after the press conference.

Family present

After translating this, the 13-year-old’s mother started screaming and screaming. A community member translated, saying, “She said she didn’t want to be in the same room as the killers.”

The mother’s wailing could be heard for a moment before the entire crowd drowned out the government officials.

Walking towards the crowd, Galime stood before her mother and spoke to her for a short while while the entire crowd cried out for justice.

The public news conference was ended early and moved to a private room on the first floor of City Hall, where officials answered questions about next steps.

State Attorney’s Investigation

In cases of officer-involved shootings, New York State Executive Law 70b requires the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations to assume the lead role in the criminal investigation.

The Utica Police Department is conducting a joint, parallel internal investigation with the Professional Standards Unit to determine whether personnel followed policies, procedures and training guidelines.

In the next few days, police said they will publicly release more details about the incident and a comprehensive review of the events. They also plan to release full-body camera footage from officers involved in the incident.

Further questions

Following the public press conference, the mayor, police chief and department spokesman Lt. Michael Curley held a private press conference for the media.

“Our police department conducts investigations every day and they don’t end this way,” Galime said. “It doesn’t end like this. This situation developed as a result of events very specific to this situation. Therefore, we only need to talk about what we can release and when it will be released… And we will not offer information that we are not completely sure of.”

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At this point, Williams said two juveniles have been detained as part of an ongoing investigation, but he declined to answer questions about the focus of the investigation until it is completed.

When asked about the use of deadly force, Williams explained that at the time there was no way of knowing whether the weapon in question was a pellet gun until officers got their hands on it.

“You don’t take TASR into a gunfight. When you see lethal physical force in the moment, you have to match it,” Williams said.

Video on social media

Police said they were aware of a video of the event circulating on social media.

Authorities said the video did not show the entire incident.

Galime said updates will be posted as they come in. Williams said such investigations can take a long time, and it will likely be months before the attorney general’s office has a conclusion.

Up to this point, Galime had been clear about the city’s position.

“This office and our police department will operate with the utmost efficiency and transparency,” Galime said. “After the press conference was over, I and the interpreter spoke to the mother and her friends and family around her. She is not only distraught, but grieving in a way that (is shown) below. And that is not only acceptable, it is expected.”

“From this side, we must ensure that… in the future we continue to maintain the greatest possible objectivity and that every incident related to the investigation is followed with objectivity and the letter of the law.”

USA TODAY’s Eduardo Cuevas contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York police shoot and kill teenager. Investigation ongoing