NY - Utica, Nyah Mway, 13, Fatally Shot by Police After Allegedly Flashing Pellet Gun, 06/28/2024

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

Upstate NY teen fatally shot by police after allegedly flashing pellet gun: ‘Oh my god!’

An upstate New York city is outraged after 13-year-old boy was shot and killed in a struggle with cops after allegedly flashing a pellet gun, according to police.

nypost.com

 

[AnyNameIWish]

NYT link. No paywall

13-Year-Old Boy Shot and Killed by Police After Chase (Published 2024)

Officers in Utica, N.Y., believed the boy had brandished a handgun. The police chief said on Saturday that it was a pellet gun.

www.nytimes.com

They say a video has been released. (Sounds like they say it's witness video that is out there, but not official BodyCam yet.)

The press conference this morning ended in chaos & a lot of yelling, unfortunately. So the mayor ended it. The family needed a translator so they met separately without the crowd, I think.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Utica police facebook page has a link to the body camera videos. But the "number of playbacks has been exceeded". Surprise emoji.

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064802073577

https://www.facebook.com/100064802073577/posts/877233874446674

For those who don't use fb..... Here is the page.

Update- you CAN download the videos to your devices using the Google link. It's odd. I was able to watch the short videos. One of the officers says to NM, let me just pat you down, make sure you don't got any weapons on you.

And NM bolts. As he does, NM turns around with what turns out is the toy / replica weapon his hand a few times. NM trips or is caught by an officer, and is shot. Cpr/life-saving measures are taken.

I can't make out too many details. The officer who shot him admits he shot him. Starts talking about it but the other officer stops him. Tells him the sheriff will talk to him.

Later you hear the officer who shot him say-
"I thought he shot but I guess he didn't shoot". The officer saw the gun in NM's hand. "He went to pull it" *(the trigger)

 

[Mack the Knife]

I'm confused.

AP article (via Yahoo, so no paywall)

Officer Bryce Patterson caught up with Nyah, tackled and punched him, and as the two wrestled on the ground, Officer Patrick Husnay opened fire, body camera video showed. Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said at a news conference Saturday that the single shot hit the youth in the chest.

A bystander video posted to Facebook also showed an officer tackling the teen and punching him as two other officers arrive, then a gunshot ringing out as the teen was on the ground.

BBC News article (via Yahoo, so no paywall)

As the officers questioned the boys, Nyah Mway fled on foot and a chase ensued. Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said police spotted what "appeared to be a handgun".

One officer then wrestled the boy to the floor. “During a ground struggle”, another officer fired a single shot that hit the teenager in the chest, the police chief said.

So Nyah Mway fled LE and pulled an item that reasonably looked like a gun, and then he was tackled to the ground by an Officer Bryce Patterson, and then ANOTHER officer shot him while Mway and Officer Patterson struggled on the ground? That seems...off to me.

It can't possibly be that LEOs are trained to shoot at a suspect who has just been tackled to the ground by another LEO, can it? That seems quite dangerous, in particular to the officer engaged with the suspect.

 

[Mack the Knife]

I just watched the footage from Officer Patrick Husnay's bodycam and it is shocking. The whole thing--LE asks to check for weapons, Mway takes off, Officer Patterson chases him down and gets him on the ground, and Officer Husnay shoots--happens in less than 30 seconds. It seems to me that if Officer Husnay was confident that he could shoot Mway without risk to Officer Patterson--ie. he was close to them and believed he could predict their movements or that there would be no sudden movements--then he was in a position to disarm/detain Mway in a method other than shooting him in the chest.

From Patterson (0:37 - "What the did he shoot"), it doesn't sound like he initially realizes it was another Officer who fired, not Mway--possibly he didn't think Mway was in a position at that point to shoot anything?

Here is Officer Husnay's body cam footage, skipped to when Mway was on the ground, Officer Patterson appears to be above him, and Officer Husnay shoots: HusnayLongBodyCam.mp4

 

[Cryptic]

13-year-old-boy-fatally-shot-by-upstate-ny-cops-after-flashing-pellet-gun

The article could have chosen their language better regarding "pellet gun".

Evidently, the pellet gun had a detachable magazine. This level of realism could move the pellet gun into the air soft level- still a pellet gun, but very difficult to tell from a real gun. High end airsoft guns can cost as much as the real gun and are used in movies as props.

 

[Cryptic]

And NM bolts. As he does, NM turns around with what turns out is the toy / replica weapon his hand a few times.

As a side note....

Though technically synonyms, there can be a world of difference between a toy weapon and a replica weapon.

Replica weapons can be realistic to the point where it is essentially impossible to tell the replica from the real weapon with out removing the magazine and / or locking the slide back. Other than their internal components, they are essentially identical to the real weapon in regards to weight, size, color, shape etc.

Even lower grade replica weapons can be very difficult to tell from a real weapon unless handled. Lower grade replicas start at say, $50.00. Higher grade replicas that eventually arrive at movie prop level can cost up to several hundred dollars.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

As a side note....

Though technically synonyms, there can be a world of difference between a toy weapon and a replica weapon.

Replica weapons can be realistic to the point where it is essentially impossible to tell the replica from the real weapon with out removing the magazine and / or locking the slide back. Other than their internal components, they are essentially identical to the real weapon in regards to weight, size, color, shape etc.

Even lower grade replica weapons can be very difficult to tell from a real weapon unless handled. Lower grade replicas start at say, $50.00. Higher grade replicas that eventually arrive at movie prop level can cost up to several hundred dollars.

I was also shocked to see what is available out there. (I am not a gun connoisseur.) Amazon carries one for less than $70, But it isn't available to deliver to me in California... but i typed in TX and FL zip codes= good to go.

 

[Mack the Knife]

I think the object that Mway had would reasonably be perceived as a handgun, and if Officer Patterson had shot Mway after he pointed the “gun” at Patterson, people objective to the situation could justify Officer Patterson shooting Mway. But as it is, Officer Patterson did not shoot Mway. He tackled him to the ground and engaged in a very brief struggle before another officer fired his weapon into Mway’s chest.

I’ve already mentioned that I think something looks off in this scenario, but something is also, in the broader sense, off with law enforcement and the communities for which they work. I can imagine that Nyah Mway, 13, from an immigrant family, felt scared being approached by so many officers, and when they asked if he had any weapons and he knew he had a pellet gun, he didn’t know what to do. I can also imagine that Officer Husnay, patrolling for armed robbers, sees Mway take off and pull a “gun” and is scared as well.

I don’t want community members to be scared of police or police to be scared of community members. Scared people make bad decisions, and I believe that’s what happened that night.