The video shows a New York officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy on the ground. Police say he pointed a replica gun

NEW YORK (AP) – Video released late Saturday shows an officer in upstate New York fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy who was knocked to the ground after he fled from police and pointed a replica gun at them.

A teenager was killed Friday in Utica after officers in the city about 400 kilometers northwest of Manhattan detained two young men a little after 10 p.m. for an unspecified “police investigation,” Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said.

Authorities said one of the men, identified by police as Nyah Mway, ran up and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at pursuing officers. It was later determined to be a Glock 17 Gen 5 replica with a detachable magazine.

Williams said that “during the ground combat” with the teenager, one of the officers fired a single shot that struck the boy in the chest.

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

Utica Mayor Michael Galime, center right, gray jacket, speaks with family members of a 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a police officer Friday evening after a press conference, Saturday, June 28, 2024 in Utica, N.Y. A police officer shot and killed a teenager who he fled while wielding a “realistic-looking firearm,” authorities said Saturday. (Kenny Lacy Jr./Syracuse.com via AP)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Kenny Lacy Jr.

The replica of the gun carried by the teen “is a realistic-looking firearm in all respects with GLOCK markings, signatures, a detachable magazine and serial numbers,” Lt. Michael Curley, a police spokesman, said in an email. “But in the end it only shoots pellets or BBs.”

A video taken by a bystander and posted on Facebook shows one of the officers chasing Nyah Mwaya and knocking him to the ground. It also shows the officer punching the teenager as two other officers arrive. A shot rings out as the teenager lies on the ground, and the officers quickly get to their feet.

The officers involved in the shooting, whose names were not immediately released, have been placed on paid administrative leave.

Police released body camera footage after public outrage as the shooting rocked Utica, a city of more than 65,000 people about 400 kilometers northwest of Manhattan. More than 4,200 people live in Myanmar, according to The Center, a nonprofit that helps resettle refugees.

Nyah Mway, who according to local media was an eighth-grade student at Donovan Secondary School, was identified as a refugee born in Burma and belonging to the Karen ethnic minority.

The Karen are an ethnic minority group that is at war with the military rulers of the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma. The army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and crushed widespread, peaceful protests aimed at a return to democratic rule.

During a tense news conference Saturday, Williams did not say what prompted police to detain the two youths or what the investigation was about. The news conference ended early because Williams, the city’s mayor and an interpreter had difficulty speaking amid repeated outbursts of anger from the audience. Members of the community, including the young man’s family, were present.

The state attorney general will investigate the shooting and determine whether it was justified.

The police department is conducting its own internal investigation to see if officers followed policies and training. The state attorney general, who did not respond to a request for comment Saturday, will open his own case to determine whether the shooting was justified.

“I want to express my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased at this difficult time,” Williams said. “This is a tragic and traumatic event for all involved.”

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