Police in upstate New York shot and killed a 13-year-old suspect who produced a replica handgun during a foot chase.
The incident happened in Utica, New York, on Friday.
The Utica Police Department said officers had been patrolling the area after two recent robberies. Police said the suspects in the thefts had been described as two Asian males with a black gun who “forcibly demanded and stole property from victims.”
In one of the robberies that had happened Thursday, the suspects had been described as one Asian male and one dark-skinned male, with one on foot and the other on a bicycle. The next day, police came upon two juvenile suspects who met the descriptions and were in the vicinity of where the robbery had occurred at the same time of day.
Police, following requests to interview and identify individuals matching the robbery suspects, approached the two teens. One of them had also been in violation of state law for walking in the roadway.
Police said both juveniles were 13 years old.
One of the suspects, who police later identified as Nyah Mway, fled on foot, according to police. When officers chased him down, he produced a black replica handgun and aimed it at police.
That’s when officer Patrick Husnay, a six-year veteran of the Utica Police Department, fired his gun. Body camera footage released by police on Sunday shows the juvenile holding up what looks like a black handgun before he was shot.
The footage showed police tending to the suspect on the ground after he was shot in the chest.
Mway was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Police issued condolences to the family.
“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time. We will continue to be as transparent and accessible to the family and community as legally allowed as this process continues,” the police department said on Facebook.
Utica police said as with any officer-involved shooting, the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations will determine if the shooting violated any laws. The department said it released the body camera footage in an effort to be transparent.
An investigation remains ongoing.
