Authorities say teen armed with replica gun fatally shot by police

Police shot and killed a 13-year-old boy Friday night following a foot chase through a residential neighborhood in Utica, New York, after the teen displayed what appeared to be a gun, authorities said. Police later determined the teen was carrying a replica handgun.

Three officers arrested the two teens around 10 p.m. local time Friday as part of an investigation into several recent robberies, Utica police said in a statement Saturday night. As authorities questioned the teens, one of them fled on foot, police said.

As the victim ran, police spotted what “appeared to be a handgun,” Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said at a news conference Saturday morning, during which he was frequently interrupted by outraged community members. One of the officers fired his weapon, hitting the teen, described as an Asian male.

“A Utica police officer ultimately fired his firearm once, striking the man during a struggle on the ground,” Williams said.

The teen, identified as Nyah Mway, 13, received immediate first aid from officers on scene and was transported to Wynn Hospital, where he died of his injuries, Williams said.

After the shooting, Williams said, officers recovered a pellet gun resembling a Glock 17 handgun with a detachable magazine.

“That replica handgun ultimately turned out to be a pellet gun,” Williams revealed.

The officer who killed Mway was identified as Patrick Husnay, a six-year veteran of the department. Two other officers, Bryce Patterson and Andrew Citriniti, were also involved in the incident, police said.

In their press release Saturday evening, police said the three officers were patrolling the area in response to at least two recent robberies “in which the suspects were described as Asian men who brandished a black-colored firearm and forcibly demanded and stole property from the victims” — the latest of which took place on Thursday.

The three officers approached the two teens because “they matched the descriptions of the robbery suspects and were in the immediate vicinity of the previous robbery at approximately the same time of day,” police said.

On Saturday night, police also released several minutes of footage from the three officers' body cameras, as well as a photo of the replica handgun that was recovered.

In the footage, the teenager identified by police as Mway runs away almost immediately after being stopped by officers. As he runs, he appears to briefly point what police say is a replica gun at the officers who are chasing him.

About 15 to 20 seconds into the foot chase, the footage shows Patterson tackling Mway on a sidewalk, and as the two struggle on the ground, Husnay approaches them and fires a single shot.

CBS News obtained another cellphone video of the incident captured by a neighbor. Regarding that video, police said in a statement that they were “aware of a video of the incident circulating on social media platforms that does not depict the incident in its entirety.”

The New York Attorney General's office also announced Saturday evening that it had opened an investigation into the shooting.

Utica police said they are conducting their own investigation. The three officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.

An interpreter was present at the controversial news conference to translate for the victim's family and community members. At one point, Utica Mayor Michael Galime took the microphone, calling for calm.

“We understand the weight of this situation and want to make sure every element is understood,” Galime said.

The ethnicity of the victim's family was not specified, but Utica has received a large number of refugees in recent years. According to the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, one of the largest numbers of Asian refugees hosted in Utica are from Burma, including the Karen ethnic group, as well as other groups. Other Asian refugees include Vietnamese, Thais, Cambodians, as well as Bosnians, Dominicans and others, the center said. Just over 19 percent of the residents of this once rapidly declining industrial city are now foreign-born, the center said.

“This tragedy reminds us of the enormous challenges facing our community, especially our law enforcement partners, who work tirelessly to keep our streets safe,” the school district’s interim superintendent said Saturday of Utica City, Dr. Kathleen Davis, in a statement.

Utica, a city of about 65,000, is located about an hour's drive from Syracuse.

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