New York police shoot and kill teenager. Investigation ongoing

Lina Portman5 days ago

0 4 minutes read

UTICA, N.Y. — The cries of a grieving mother could be heard inside City Hall during a news conference in upstate New York Saturday morning as authorities detailed the shooting death of a 13-year-old member of the Karen community by a police officer Friday night.

What started as rumblings turned into shouts from all sides as Utica Mayor Michael Galime, with the help of an interpreter, spoke with the mother and family of Nyah Mway, 13, who is from the Karen community with roots in Myanmar and Southeast Asia.

Saturday's press conference was initially intended for journalists, but was opened to the general public due to the large number of people, according to the mayor.

“We called this press conference not only to explain and be completely transparent, but to offer our condolences to the family and the community for their loss,” Galime said. “Last night, while a shutdown like the one that occurred is common, it turned tragic in a matter of moments. We understand and we are here to be completely transparent and explain everything about the incident to the community and the process in progress.”

Chronology of events

Police Chief Mark Williams then attempted to provide a timeline of events.

Williams said Utica police officers were conducting a pedestrian stop of two juveniles around 10:18 p.m. Friday on a tree-lined residential street.

One of the youths, a young man, fled from police. Williams said that during the ensuing chase, the young man displayed “what appeared to be a handgun.”

During the press conference, as soon as the police chief said these words, part of the population – more than 100 people crowded into city hall – began to scream. Anger rose from the crowd, “No!” » were shouted and some tried to calm the crowd.

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Williams added that the officer discharged his firearm once and struck the teen “during a struggle on the ground.” The 13-year-old was taken to Wynn Hospital where he died of his injuries.

“Officers then recovered a replica GLOCK 17 handgun with a detachable magazine, but it was ultimately determined to be a pellet gun,” Williams said. “We will be releasing the names of the officers involved very soon. We ask for patience as this investigation continues.”

Cries of outrage rang out from the crowd after it was learned that the three officers involved in the incident had been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation was underway. One person commented loudly that officers were given “…paid vacations.”

Galime told the crowd he was committed to being as transparent as possible and that right after the news conference he would invite family and community representatives to speak with city officials.

Family gift

After this was translated, the 13-year-old's mother began yelling and screaming. A community member translated it as saying: “She said she didn't want to be in the same room with killers. »

The mother's moans could be heard for a moment before the entire crowd drowned out the shouts of the government officials.

Walking towards the crowd, Galime stood in front of the mother and spoke to her for a brief moment while the entire crowd demanded justice.

The public news conference was closed early and moved to a private room upstairs at City Hall, where officials answered questions about next steps.

State Attorney's Investigation

In police-involved shootings, New York State Executive Law 70b requires that the New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations assume the lead role in criminal investigation.

The Utica Police Department is conducting a joint parallel internal investigation with its Professional Standards Unit to determine whether personnel followed policies, procedures and training guidelines.

Police said they would release more details about the incident and a full overview of the events in the coming days. Police also plan to release the full body camera footage of the officers involved.

Video on social networks

Police said they were aware of a video of the incident circulating on social media.

Authorities said the video did not depict the entire incident.

Galime said updates will be released as they become available. Investigations like this can take a long time, Williams said, and it could likely be months before the attorney general's office reaches any conclusions.

Until then, Galime clearly indicated where the city was.

“This office and our police department will operate with the greatest efficiency and transparency,” Galime said. “After the press conference closed, myself and the translator had a conversation with the mother and her friends and family. She's not only upset, she's grieving over the way she was treated. [shown] down. And that's not only acceptable, it's expected. »

“What we need to do on this side is make sure that going forward we continue to be as objective as possible and that every incident requiring investigation is handled objectively and to the letter of the law .”

USA TODAY's Eduardo Cuevas contributed to this story.

Chronology of events

Family gift

State Attorney's Investigation

Other questions

Video on social networks

Lina Portman

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