A 13-year-old Myanmar refugee boy with a model gun was fatally shot by police in the United States after they tried to subdue him, the Associated Press reported on the 29th. Police in Utica, a city in upstate New York, said that around 10 p.m. the previous day, one of the 13-year-old boys was shot and killed by police officers while they were stopping two juveniles in connection with an armed robbery investigation.
According to police, two 13-year-old boys who resembled the suspect description were stopped to check if they had a weapon, but one of them ran away. As the boy ran away, he pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the officers, and the officers responded by shooting. He was shot in the chest area and was given first aid at the scene before being taken to hospital, where he died. However, during later verification, it was confirmed that the pistol the boy was aiming at was not an actual weapon, but a replica of the Glock 17 5th generation pistol.
“One of the officers who was struggling with the teenager shot him in the chest,” Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said at a press conference on the 29th. Lt. Michael Curley, a Utica police spokesman, said in an email that the model pistol in question “looked authentic in every way, including the Glock markings and features, the detachable magazine and serial number,” but ultimately did not fire pellets or pellets. “It could only fire BB bullets,” he explained.
The police released body camera footage. In the video, the boy aims a model pistol as he runs away, and the police officers shout “It’s a gun” as they run. The Associated Press reported that one of the police officers then knocked the boy down and punched him, and during a struggle, another police officer fired his gun. The police officer who fired the gun was identified as Patrick Husnai, a 6-year commissioned officer. He, along with two other police officers who responded with him, was placed on paid administrative leave.
The boy who died was Niya Mway, an 8th grade student at a nearby middle school (equivalent to a 2nd grade middle school in Korea) and was known to be a Karen refugee born in Myanmar. The Karen people are an ethnic minority group who have formed anti-government armed forces and are resisting the military. When the military, which took power in a coup in 2021, oppressed ethnic minorities, many ethnic minorities, including the Karen people, became refugees.
The police are conducting an internal investigation to determine whether the officers who killed the boy followed regulations. The state attorney general plans to conduct his own investigation to determine whether the police shooting was justified.
“This is a tragic and shocking incident for everyone involved,” Chief Williams said. “We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased’s family at this difficult time.”