Body camera footage released after 13-year-old boy shot dead by police in New York

A community is in mourning after a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by a police officer in upstate New York Friday night.

The teenage victim was identified as Nyah Mway, a member of the Karen refugee community who had graduated from Grade 8 earlier in the week.

In body camera footage released by the department, Mway begins running after an officer says he was about to be searched for a weapon, leading to a brief chase during which the boy brandished what appeared to be a gun, according to police and their slow-motion, reduced version of the released footage.

“During his escape, the juvenile displayed what appeared to be a handgun,” Utica police said in a statement. Authorities later identified it as a pellet gun resembling a Glock pistol.

In the footage, an officer chasing Mway shouts: “Gun! and pins him to the ground. As authorities held Mway on the ground, an officer fired his weapon once, killing Mway.

The incident occurred after officers with the Utica Police Department arrested Mway and another boy on a street in downtown Utica. Police said they arrested the boys around 10:15 p.m. in the 900 block of Shaw Street while searching for the suspects in two robbery investigations, described as “Asian males” or “an Asian male and a dark-skinned male.” .

A GoFundMe fundraiser for the family, apparently started by Mway’s brother, says the family moved to the United States nine years ago to seek refuge from ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.

“My brother was coming home from an 8th grade BBQ. He had never been in trouble with law enforcement before, he was a good kid,” the fundraiser description reads.

The description then questions the police’s version of events. It states that police told Mway’s family that there had been a “shootout” when they informed them of the incident.

A family member said The New York Times that the police told the parents that their son was in the hospital, but by the time they arrived, he was already dead.

Police said they arrested the two boys “based on the listed identifying factors” and that Mway was “walking on the roadway in violation of New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law 1156a,” which which means he was just walking down the road.

Officer Patrick Husnay, who shot Mway, and the three others involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.

“Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time. We will continue to be as transparent and accessible to the family and community as the law allows throughout this process,” a statement from the police department said.

Members of the local community have expressed outrage over the incident, demanding justice for the boy and his family.

“No justice, no peace,” residents shouted at City Hall Saturday as the mayor and police chief gave a news conference.

A candlelight vigil was held for the teen, with locals bringing signs, balloons, flowers and more to honor Mway.

The New York Police Department and the New York Attorney General’s Office will investigate the case. Utica city and police officials have told residents they will be “transparent” in their investigation.