The family of a 13-year-old boy who was shot dead by police after wielding a replica handgun have called for the officers involved to be put in prison "forever."
On Wednesday, Nyah Mway had just finished middle school in Utica, the central New York city where his family, refugees from Myanmar, had settled about a decade ago, according to relatives. However, by Friday night, the young boy was fatally shot by police who had tackled him to the ground after he allegedly pointed what turned out to be a BB gun at them during a foot chase.
His distraught family and members of their immigrant community, struggling to understand his death, demanded justice for Nyah and accountability from the police on Sunday. "We came to the United States, finally, to get the education and to get the good jobs here", and hoping for a peaceful life after decades of strife and violence in Myanmar, said Lay Htoo, who identified himself as one of Nyah's cousins.
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Instead of celebrating Nyah's transition to high school, his parents are now waiting for medical examiners to release his body and questioning what will happen to the officers involved. "They want them to be in prison forever," the cousin stated in a phone interview.
As the state attorney general and the Utica Police Department investigate the shooting, Nyah's relatives and other local members of Myanmar's Karen ethnic minority said they planned to meet Sunday afternoon with Utica Mayor Michael P. Galime.
Currently, the officers involved are on paid administrative leave. The incident occurred on Friday night in Utica, a former industrial city that has seen a resurgence due to the settlement of thousands of refugees from various countries over recent decades.
The city, with a population of 65,000, is home to more than 4,200 people from Myanmar, as reported by The Center, a nonprofit organization that aids in refugee resettlement. Police reports indicate that Nyah and another 13-year-old boy were stopped on Friday night because they matched the descriptions of suspects involved in an armed robbery that took place in the same area on Thursday, and one of the teens was caught jaywalking.
The police department refrained from releasing the armed robbery report and its suspect description on Sunday, citing an ongoing investigation. Footage from a body camera shows an officer stating his need to pat down the teens for potential weapons.
At this point, one of the teenagers - identified as Nyah - flees, turns around, and seems to aim a black object at the officers. The officers assumed it was a handgun, according to the police, but it was later found to be a BB or pellet gun that closely mimicked a Glock 17 Gen 5 handgun with a removable magazine.
An image released by the police reveals that the device lacked the orange band on the barrel that many BB gun manufacturers have started adding in recent years to differentiate their products from actual firearms. Officer Bryce Patterson caught up with Nyah, tackled and punched him, and as the two wrestled on the ground, Officer Patrick Husnay opened fire, body camera video showed.
Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said at a news conference Saturday that the single shot hit the youth in the chest. A bystander video posted to Facebook also showed an officer tackling the teen and punching him as two other officers arrive, then a gunshot ringing out as the teen was on the ground.
Under New York law, the attorney general's office looks into every death at the hands of law enforcement. The police department's own probe will explore whether officers followed policies and training.
Williams called the shooting "a tragic and traumatic incident for all involved", and his department said it released information and the body camera video in keeping with "our commitment to transparency. To Nyah's cousin, Isabella Moo, however, the police narrative seemed like "trying to criminalize him a lot more and trying to protect the police officers."
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"The escalation of this should not have happened, and our police officers need to be trained a lot better or a lot differently," she said in a phone interview. "The city needs to be held accountable, and this should not have been done to any child."
Karens are among the groups in conflict with Myanmar's military rulers, the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma. The army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and quashed widespread peaceful protests demanding a return to democratic governance.
Nyah's family escaped from Myanmar to Thailand around twenty years ago, where he was born in a refugee camp. They then migrated to the United States about nine years ago through a resettlement program, Htoo shared.
He mentioned that the teenager's father is employed at a convenience store. Htoo described Nyah as a young man who loved math, soccer, and hanging out with his friends when he wasn't looking after his younger siblings. Despite his family being Buddhists, he was curious about learning and occasionally attended Bible study with his friends, the cousin added.
According to the cousin, the last time the boy's mother saw him was on Friday night when he told her he was going to a store to buy something. Since then, she has barely slept, managing only 10-minute naps, with her tears starting anew each time she wakes up, he said.
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