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Police fatally shot a 13-year-old boy after a chase in upstate New York after the teen displayed what appeared to be a handgun, the Utica Police Department said in a statement. Police later said the teen was carrying a replica handgun.
Officers stopped two teenagers on Friday around 10 p.m. local time in Utica, a city of about 65,000 people in upstate New York located about an hour’s drive from Syracuse, police said. While the authorities were questioning the teens, one of them fled on foot, the statement said.
As he ran, police spotted what “appeared to be a handgun” pointed at the officers. One of the officers fired his gun and hit the teen, described as an Asian male. He was given immediate first aid by the police officers and was brought to Wynn Hospital, where he died from his wounds, Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said at a Saturday morning news conference.
Officers said they found a replica Glock handgun with a detachable magazine following the shooting.
“This replica handgun was ultimately found to be a pellet gun,” Williams said.
Utica police later identified the deceased 13-year-old as Nyah Mway. The name of the officer who shot him has not been released. An interpreter was at the news conference to provide translation for the victim’s family and their community who were in attendance, so they could better understand the information provided.
The ethnicity of the victim’s family wasn’t identified, but Utica has resettled large numbers of refugees in recent years. According to the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, one of the largest numbers of Asian refugees Utica has resettled are from Burma, including from the Karen ethnic group as well as other groups. Other Asian refugees include Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodians along with Bosnians, Dominicans and more, the center said. Just over 19% of the once rapidly declining industrial city is now foreign-born, the center said.
“This tragedy reminds us of the tremendous challenges our community faces, particularly our partners in law enforcement, who tirelessly strive to ensure our streets remain safe,” Utica City School District interim superintendent Dr. Kathleen Davis said in a statement Saturday.
A social media video related to the incident has been circulating on the internet. Regarding the video, police said, “We are aware of a video of the incident circulating on social media platforms, which does not portray the incident in its entirety.”
Police said they are conducting an investigation into the shooting, and will release items related to it over the next several days, including a critical incident brief and the full bodycam footage. The chief said during the news conference the police officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave.
