Community demands accountability for fatal NYPD shooting | News, Sports, Jobs

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

Relatives of a 13-year-old boy shot and killed by police in central New York state demanded justice, while members of their immigrant community from Myanmar sought to hold local authorities accountable on Sunday.

The attorney general was investigating the shooting of Nyah Mway, who was tackled to the ground and then shot by Utica police on Friday after a foot chase.

Police, who are currently conducting their own investigation, released body camera video showing a juvenile apparently pointing an object at them before they took him to the ground. The object was an air rifle that looked like a real firearm, police said.

As official investigations continued, Nyah Mway’s family and outraged community members demanded accountability for the death of the teenager, who was born in Myanmar and belongs to the Karen ethnic minority.

Utica residents of Karen descent planned to meet with Mayor Michael P. Galime on Sunday afternoon, said Daniel Cribb, who works with a Karen community group. A message seeking comment was sent to the mayor’s office.

At a vigil on Saturday evening, Nyah Mway’s brother Lah said through an interpreter that he was not satisfied until the officials “are put in prison”, Syracuse.com reported.

Other vigil attendees questioned officers’ account of the shooting.

“This all makes no sense,” said Kay Klo, one of the participants in the meeting.

According to police, Nyah Mway and another 13-year-old boy were stopped on Friday night because they matched the descriptions of suspects in an armed robbery that took place in the same area on Thursday. One of the two was also walking on the road, a violation of the state’s traffic laws.

Body camera video shows an officer saying he had to pat them down for weapons. Then one of the teens – Nyah Mway – runs away, turns around and appears to point a black object at them.

Officers believed it was a handgun, police said, but it was later determined to be a BB or air gun that looked very similar to a Glock 17 Gen 5 pistol with a detachable magazine. Police released an image showing that the device did not have an orange band on the barrel, which many BB gun manufacturers have added in recent years to distinguish their products from firearms.

Officer Bryce Patterson caught up with Nyah Mway, threw him to the ground and punched him. While the two were wrestling on the ground, Officer Patrick Husnay opened fire, body camera video shows. Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said at a press conference Saturday that the single shot hit the teen in the chest.

A video posted on Facebook by a bystander also showed a police officer attacking and hitting the teenager as two more officers arrived. Then a gunshot rang out as the teenager lay on the ground.

Husnay, Patterson and Officer Andrew Citriniti were placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.

Under New York State law, the Attorney General’s Office investigates every police-related death, while the Utica Police Department’s investigation is designed to determine whether officers followed policies and training.

The police chief called the shooting “a tragic and traumatic incident for everyone involved.”

Among Utica’s 65,000 residents, more than 4,200 are from Myanmar, according to The Center, a nonprofit that helps resettle refugees.

Karen are 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.

According to speakers at the vigil, Nyah Mway and his family came to the United States nine years ago.

“This country should be a land of freedom, a land of peace,” said a spokeswoman, Yadana Oo. “What’s going on? Did we run from one pursuer to the next?”