UTICA, N.Y. — Authorities in New York on Sunday released body camera footage of a police officer shooting and killing a 13-year-old boy who reportedly aimed what was later determined to be a pellet gun during a foot pursuit Friday night.
The incident occurred around 10:18 p.m. Friday when Utica police were conducting a traffic stop on two pedestrians in a residential area. According to Utica Police Chief Mark Williams, during the stop, a 13-year-old boy, identified as Nya Mway, fled from police and displayed what appeared to be a handgun during a pursuit.
Williams said officers then fired one shot, wounding Meow, who was taken to Wynn Hospital where he later died from his injuries.
Police said they recovered a replica Glock 17 handgun, but it was determined to be a pellet gun.
The body camera footage was released in six videos of varying lengths on the police department’s YouTube channel, and police also released photos of the airsoft gun that Meow was allegedly holding when he was fatally shot.
“As always, we are committed to transparency in our investigations and earning the public’s trust,” the Utica Police Department said in a statement Saturday about the officer-involved shooting. “We will release as much information as permitted during this process.”
The deadly shooting sparked outrage and calls for justice in Utica’s Karen immigrant community, a Southeast Asian minority group, where hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil in Nya’s memory on Saturday night.
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“It was a one-shot deal.”
The three Utica police officers involved in the incident were identified as Patrick Husnay, who fired his gun at the boy, a six-year veteran of the department, Bryce Patterson, who has been with the department for four years, and Andrew Citrinity, who has been with the department for two and a half years.
Body camera footage shows three officers approaching Meow and another boy, who were riding their bikes, and Patterson can be heard telling the boys they were stopping them because a boy was riding his bike in the road and Meow was walking nearby.
According to the video, Nya initially has his hands up, but then runs away when officers ask if they can search him for weapons. Patterson and Hasnay chase Nya, and after a short chase, Patterson takes him down. An officer can be heard yelling, “He has a gun.”
Body camera footage released showed Hasnai pulling out a gun and shooting Nya as he lay on the ground.
In the released footage, Hasnai can be heard saying: “It was one shot. It was me.”
All three officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office has launched an investigation
On Saturday, the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations announced it had opened an investigation into Nya’s death.
New York State Administrative Law Section 70-b requires the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations to take the lead role in criminal investigations of police shootings.
“If OSI’s assessment indicates that the officers may have caused the death, OSI will proceed with a thorough investigation of the incident,” the state attorney general’s office said in a statement. “These are preliminary facts and are subject to change.”
The Utica Police Department is conducting an internal investigation in conjunction with the Professional Standards Division to determine if policies, procedures and training were followed. Additionally, Utica Police stated that they will work closely and openly with the City of Utica Public Safety Advisory Committee.
“The story doesn’t add up”
Nearly 24 hours after Nya was shot and killed by police, local residents mourned the boy’s death with a candlelight vigil, the heat of 100 candles carried on the breeze through a crowd three times larger than the vigil’s size.
“We are gathered here to honor and support my brother, Nya Mway,” said Kay Clo, director of the Midtown Utica Community Center. “He was tragically killed by a police officer.”
Authorities say they are investigating, but the Karen people feel betrayed. Klo said the Mway family came to the US nine years ago seeking safety from “the army, the war and police violence.”
Still fresh in their memories of persecution at the hands of the military and police in their home country, Utica’s Karen community is demanding justice.
“There are conflicting stories,” Cloe said. “The story they told at the press conference, the stories witnesses told us, what was on the video — they’re all conflicting. These officers need to be investigated and held accountable for their actions.”
Kuro’s words echoed through the streets, and then the same message was repeated in Karen, blending into a cry for justice. Buddhist monks from the community — many of whom settled in Utica as refugees from Cambodia — addressed the crowds in their native language and offered Buddhist prayers for Nya.
At the end of the prayer, the monk, speaking in English, asked the crowd, “What do you need from us?”
The word “justice” was immediately answered, and when asked again, they again said “justice.”
Pastor Debbie Kelsey of Tabernacle Baptist Church spoke to attendees.
“Some of us are here as (Nyah Mwaye’s) family, some of us are here as friends, some of us are classmates and neighbors,” she said. “We are all part of this community and we are here to let him know that he lived, that he was loved and that he will never be forgotten.”
Who are the Karen?
Utica, a Rust Belt city in New York’s Mohawk Valley about 55 miles east of Syracuse, has a burgeoning refugee population that includes several thousand ethnic Karen.
The Karen, pronounced “Karen” and also known as the Kayin, Karian or Kaw-Tul, are an ethnic group found throughout Southeast Asia. According to the Karen Women’s Association, their origins can be traced back to the Gobi Desert, Mongolia and Tibet. They later settled in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
During the British colonial period in the mid-to-late 19th century, officials recruited many Karen into the police and military, according to the group, and during World War II and the Burmese Campaign, the Karen became loyal guerilla fighters for the Allied forces against the Japanese occupying forces.
After the war, when Britain granted Burma independence, the Karen hoped to establish their own state, but they were absorbed into the new Union of Burma, which was renamed the Union of Myanmar in 1989.
Burmese-majority government forces killed Karen villagers, sparking a Karen rebellion that led to conflict until 1962, when the government vowed to pacify and unify the country. The so-called “Four Cuts” offensive aimed to deprive the rebels of food, money, intelligence and recruits. The offensive continued until 1990.
A ceasefire was reached in 2012, but long before then, refugees had been resettled in camps, many across the border in Thailand, according to the Karen Institute of Minnesota. Refugees in Thailand were not allowed to leave the crowded camps they occupied and were arrested by Thai police if caught.
Some of the refugees were then resettled in many countries, including the United States.
Contributor: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY