Utica Police Release Bodycam Footage of Nyah Mway Shooting

UTICA, NY — New York authorities on Sunday released body camera footage showing a police officer shooting a 13-year-old boy during a foot chase Friday night after he allegedly aimed an object that later turned out to be a pellet gun.

The incident occurred around 10:18 p.m. Friday when Utica police officers stopped two pedestrians in a residential area. During the stop, the 13-year-old boy – identified as Nyah Mway – fled from police and displayed what appeared to be a handgun during the chase, according to Utica Police Chief Mark Williams.

An officer then fired a shot, wounding the teen, Williams said. Nyah was taken to Wynn Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Police said they had seized a replica GLOCK 17 pistol, which was proven to be an air rifle.

The body camera footage was posted on the police YouTube channel in six separate videos of varying lengths. Police also released photos of the pellet gun Nyah was allegedly carrying when he was shot.

“As always, we are committed to transparency and want to earn the public’s trust in our investigation,” Utica police said Saturday in a statement about the officer-involved shooting. “As much information as possible will be released during this process.”

The fatal shooting sparked a wave of outrage and demands for justice in Utica’s Karen immigrant community, an ethnic minority from Southeast Asia. Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil Saturday night in memory of Nyah.

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“It was a shot”

The three Utica police officers involved in the incident were identified as Patrick Husnay, who has been with the police for six years and shot the teenager; Bryce Patterson, who has been with the police for four years; and Andrew Citriniti, who has been with the police for two and a half years.

Body camera footage shows the three officers approaching Nyah and another juvenile who was riding a bicycle. In the footage, Patterson can be seen telling the juveniles that they are being stopped because a juvenile was riding a bicycle on the street while Nyah was walking nearby.

Nyah – who initially put his hands in the air – was then seen running away after officers patted him down to see if he had any weapons on him, according to the footage. Patterson and Husnay ran after Nyah, with Patterson taking down the teen after a short chase as officers were heard yelling, “He’s got a gun.”

According to released body camera footage, Husnay drew his gun and appeared to shoot Nyah as he lay on the ground.

“It was a gunshot,” Husnay can be heard saying, according to the released footage. “That was me.”

All three officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

New York Attorney General launches investigation

On Saturday, the New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations announced that it had launched an investigation into Nyah’s death.

New York State Law 70-b requires the New York State Attorney General’s Office’s Office of Special Investigations to assume the lead criminal investigative role in police-involved shootings.

“If OSI’s assessment indicates that an officer may have caused the death, OSI will conduct a full investigation of the incident,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. “These are preliminary facts and are subject to change.”

The Utica Police Department is conducting a parallel internal investigation with its Professional Standards Division to determine whether policies, procedures and training were followed. In addition, the Utica Police Department said it will work closely and openly with the City of Utica’s Public Safety Advisory Committee.

“The stories don’t make sense”

About 24 hours after Nyah was shot and killed by police, community members gathered for a candlelight vigil to mourn the teenager’s death, with the warmth of a hundred candles carried on the wind through a crowd three times her size.

“We are gathered here to honor and support our little brother Nyah Mway,” said spokeswoman Kay Klo, director of the Midtown Utica Community Center. “He was tragically murdered by police officers.”

Although authorities have said an investigation is underway, members of the Karen community feel betrayed. Klo said the Mway family came to America nine years ago seeking safety from “military, wars and police violence.”

The injuries caused by military and police persecution in their homeland are still fresh in the minds of many members of the Karen community in Utica, and they are demanding justice.

“The stories don’t add up,” Klo said. “The story they told at the press conference, what the witnesses say and what’s on the video. None of it adds up. The police officers need to be investigated and held accountable for their actions.”

Klo’s words echoed through the streets before the same message was repeated in the Karen language, blending into a single cry for justice. Buddhist monks from the community, many of whom had settled in Utica as refugees from Cambodia, spoke to the crowd in their native language and led them through a Buddhist prayer for Nyah.

At the end of the prayer, the monk spoke in English and asked the crowd: “What do we need?”

They quickly answered with the word “justice,” and were asked again, and again they said “justice.”

Pastor Debbie Kelsey of Tabernacle Baptist Church spoke to those in attendance.

“Some of us come as (Nyah Mway’s) family. Some come as friends. Some are classmates and some are neighbors,” she said. “We are all part of this community and we are all here to say that Nyah Mway lived. And he was loved. And he will never be forgotten.”

Who are the Karen?

Utica, a Rust Belt city in New York State’s Mohawk Valley, about 55 miles east of Syracuse, New York, is home to a rapidly growing refugee population that includes thousands of Karen.

The Karen, whose name is pronounced “ka-ren” and who are also known as Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are a large and widely scattered ethnic group in Southeast Asia whose origins, according to the Karen Women’s Organization, lie in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia or Tibet. The Karen later settled in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

According to the organization, during British colonial rule in the mid- to late 19th century, authorities recruited many Karen for their police and armed forces. During World War II and the Burma campaign, the Karen became loyal Allied guerrilla fighters against the Japanese occupiers.

When Britain granted Burma independence after the war, the Karen had hoped to establish their own state. Instead, they were absorbed into the new Union of Burma, which was renamed the Union of Myanmar in 1989.

Forces of the predominantly Burmese government killed Karen villagers and a Karen uprising broke out, leading to a conflict that lasted until 1962, when the government promised to crush and unify the country. The so-called “Four Cuts Offensive” aimed to deprive the rebels of their food sources, funds, intelligence and recruits and lasted until 1990.

A ceasefire was agreed in 2012. But long before that, refugees were resettled in refugee camps, many across the border in Thailand, according to the Karen Organization of Minnesota. Refugees in Thailand were not allowed to leave the overcrowded camps they occupied and were arrested by Thai police if caught.

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