What you should know about fatal police shootings – NBC New York

In northern New York state, police overpowered and shot a 13-year-old boy after he aimed an object that turned out to be an air rifle at police during a foot chase.

Utica authorities on Saturday released bodycam footage of Friday night’s shooting and held a contentious public meeting attended by the teenager’s family and other members of the local refugee community.

The state Attorney General’s Office is currently investigating and the police officers involved have been placed on leave, as is protocol in such shootings.

What you need to know:

The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. on a residential street in Utica, an old industrial city about 380 kilometers northwest of Manhattan on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains.

According to police, three patrol officers stopped to question two youths. One of the youths, Nyah Mway, ran and pointed a gun at the officers, according to police. After throwing the youth to the ground, one of the officers fired a single shot into his chest. The youth was taken to a hospital where he died.

Mway, whose last name is Nyah, was a Karen refugee born in Myanmar. He had just finished middle school and was set to start high school in the fall.

His distraught relatives and other members of the local Karen community called for police to be held accountable for what they said was an unjustified killing, as Mway was already handcuffed and lying on the ground when he was shot.

The teen’s family said Monday they were waiting for the coroner’s office to release the body so they could make funeral arrangements. The Onondaga County Health Department said the cause and manner of death were still unknown and the autopsy report had not yet been released.

Mway’s cousin Lay Htoo told the Associated Press that the family came to the United States seeking education and good jobs, hoping for a peaceful life after decades of unrest and violence in civil war-torn Myanmar.

Police have released the names of the three officers involved in the incident and said they are assigned to a crime prevention unit. Patrick Husnay, a six-year veteran, was the officer who shot the boy.

The other officers involved were Bryce Patterson, a four-year police officer, and Andrew Citriniti, a two-year police officer who previously served with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office.

All three remain on paid administrative leave, which is common practice in police-involved shootings, Lt. Michael Curley, a department spokesman, confirmed Monday.

The videos released late Saturday show chaotic scenes.

In the footage, an officer says he has to pat down the two teenagers standing on the sidewalk to make sure they don’t have weapons on them. One runs down the street and appears to be holding a dark object as he runs away.

The officers shout “Gun!” before one of them tackles and punches him. Another officer opens fire as the two wrestle on the ground.

In the recordings, passersby can be heard shouting at the police. At one point, an officer shouts back: “We’re trying to save him!”

According to police, the BB or pellet gun Mway was aiming with closely resembled a Glock 17 Gen 5 pistol with a detachable magazine.

The agency released images showing that the device does not have an orange ring on the barrel, which many BB gun manufacturers have added in recent years to distinguish their products from real firearms.

Police Chief Mark Williams said officers stopped the teenagers because they matched the description of suspects in recent robberies in the area.

He said the suspects in those cases were Asian men – one on foot, the other on a bicycle – who brandished a black firearm.

Mayor Michael Galime delivered a speech and met privately with the family on Saturday. He also addressed the Karen community during a controversial gathering at a local church on Sunday, rejecting claims that the shooting was a sign of prejudice.

“What I saw on the bodycam footage and in all the reports I read leading up to this incident is that there was no evidence or indication that this was racism,” Galime told the crowd.

Michael Gentile, his chief of staff, declined to elaborate on Monday, saying the mayor was “asked a direct question about racism and he gave a direct answer that has not changed since then.”

The Karen are an ethnic minority and are one of the groups at war with the military rule of Myanmar, formerly Burma.

Utica, a city of more than 65,000 people, is home to more than 4,200 people from Myanmar, according to The Center, a nonprofit organization that helps resettle refugees.

They are among the thousands of refugees from various countries who have settled in the region in recent decades and who, by some estimates, now make up more than 20 percent of the population of the faded Rust Belt center.

The office of state Attorney General Letitia James is currently conducting a review to determine whether the police use of force was justified, as is common in police shootings.

Her office said on Monday that the investigation was still ongoing, but that a date for its completion could not yet be given.

The Police Department is conducting its own investigation to determine whether officers followed proper procedures, policies and training.

Curley said Monday that more details on the criminal investigation into the shooting would come from James’ office.

Associated Press radio reporter Julie Walker contributed to this report.