Utica Police Officer Reportedly Shoots 13-Year-Old Boy Holding Pellet Gun Mistaken For Real Weapon

An investigation is underway and three Utica police officers are currently on leave with pay after a 13-year-old boy was reportedly shot and killed after they believed he was toting a handgun.

In a newly released video pulled from one of the officer’s body cam footage, the 13-year-old boy, identified as Nyah Mway, was approached by police requesting to pat him down in search of a possible weapon. Mway can be seen running away, which in turn prompted an on-foot chase between him and the three law enforcement officials who have been recognized as six-year Utica Police Department veteran Patrick Hunsay, four-year veteran Bryce Patterson, and Andrew Citriniti, who has been a part of the police force for the shortest time with just under three years of working with the department. It was also determined that Hunsay was the officer responsible for discharging his firearm at the time of the incident.

According to the Utica Police Department, the 13-year-old boy was stopped alongside another juvenile as a part of an investigation for a separate occurrence. When the child ran from the scene, a chase between him and the officers ensued.

“During the course of the stop one of the juveniles fled from the officers,” read an official statement from the Utica PD shared on Facebook. “During the course of his flight, the juvenile displayed what appeared to be a handgun, and a Utica Police Officer discharged his firearm striking the male.”

In a video recorded by a bystander, viewers can see the moments leading up to the alleged shooting, which begins with the 13-year-old boy running down the street with a Utica police officer following closely behind him. He falls to the ground and jumps back up before he is ultimately tackled to the ground and, within seconds, hit by a gunshot reportedly fired by Officer Hunsay, and left lying motionless on the ground.

Mway, who had just graduated from middle school two days before the incident, was described as “an outgoing kid who loved to be outside biking and playing,” in a GoFundMe profile set up by his family. According to the description on the fundraiser’s page, which has currently raised over $55,000, Mway and his family migrated to the U.S. from Myanmar, also known as Burma, as Karen refugees more than 8 years ago.

The city of Utica has become a popular landing place for Karen refugees who have fled the “ethnic and religious persecution by the Myanmar government,” over the years.

On Saturday, June 29, during a press conference held by Utica Police Chief Mark Williams, officials confirmed that they are aware of the video circulating online and that footage from the body cameras worn by the officers will be released by the city in the days to follow. 

“What happened yesterday evening in our community is an event that has become all too familiar and routine, over and over and over again,” said Utica Mayor Michael P. Galime, who was present for the conference.

Chief Williams also confirmed that the alleged weapon that the boy was carrying was a pellet gun “replica of a Glock 17 Gen5 handgun with a detachable magazine.”

After he revealed that the weapon was not real, frustrated residents began to shout in protest. What’s more, at one point during the press conference, Chief Williams attempted to calm down the group of upset members of the community.

“There’s a lot of emotions in this room,” he said. “But you’re asking us to be transparent, and when you shout over us, it makes it very difficult to do so.”

When the crowd continued to shout at officials, Mayor Galime announced that the conference had come to an end and that all future conversation would only be directed toward the family of the 13-year-old boy.

At this time, Chief Williams asks for the community’s “patience” while an investigation is underway. In two separate cases, the Utica PD will look to see if proper protocol was taken in the event that left the 13-year-old boy dead while the New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation will simultaneously hold their own examination around whether or not the “shooting was justified.”

“It is our sincerest desire that at the conclusion of these investigations an impartial, fair, and thorough investigation will have been completed, giving answers to any remaining lingering questions,” said the Utica Police Department in a statement shared Saturday night (June 29).

Hundreds of people attended the funeral for Mway in Utica on July 6. Mourners from the funeral home spilled out into the sidewalk and waited patiently to say goodbye and pay their last respects to a little boy that was gone too soon, the Rome Daily Sentinel reported.