In upstate New York, the United States, a police officer shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was carrying what seemed to be a gun.
The child was tackled to the ground in the footage of the event that was made public on Saturday, June 29, after he fled from the police and pointed what they later discovered to be an imitation firearm at them.
The youngster was slain, according to the police, sometime after 10:00 p.m. (local time) on Friday, June 28, in Utica, New York, after two teenagers were stopped by three cops as part of an armed robbery investigation.
One of the teenagers ran away on foot while the authorities were interviewing him or her, according to a news release from the Utica police. The 13-year-olds were seen in the same location at roughly the same time the next day, according to the police, and they both fit the descriptions of the robbery suspects.
According to the video, the victim ran away when the cops told him or her they wanted to pat them down to make sure they were not carrying any weapons.
The thirteen-year-old, subsequently identified as Nyah Mway, ran away, and the authorities saw what “looked to be a handgun,” according to Utica Police Chief Mark Williams during a press conference on Saturday morning.
“During a ground struggle, a Utica police officer ultimately discharged his firearm once, striking the male,” he continued. The angry residents of the village regularly interrupted him.
Williams claims that after receiving emergency medical attention and being brought to the hospital, Mway passed away from his wounds.
According to the Utica police chief, the cops did not find a pellet pistol that resembled a Glock 17 handgun until after the incident.
Patrick Husnay is the policeman who was named as the one who shot and killed Mway.
According to the attorney general’s office in New York, an inquiry into the incident has been launched. Police in Utica stated they are looking into the matter on their own.
The event has resulted in the placement of all three policemen on paid administrative leave.
A neighborhood vigil for the teen drew hundreds of attendees, according to ABC News. Mway’s uncle Lay Htoo stated to the media source that he was feeling down and his family was devastated.
Htoo stated that his nephew had relocated to Utica eight years prior, and that his family was from Myanmar. Mway was a “very good kid,” according to Htoo, who had just finished from middle school.
Following widespread criticism over the shooting, the police agency made the body cam footage public. Over 4,200 individuals from Myanmar reside in Utica, a city of 65,000 inhabitants, according to the Associated Press.
According to claims in the media, Mway belonged to the Karen ethnic group and was a refugee who was born in Myanmar.