Utica Tragedy: 13-Year-Old Boy Shot by Officer in Routine Search Escalates into Violence

A thirteen-year-old boy from Burmese origin was shot and killed by an officer in Utica, upstate New York. The incident occurred on Friday around 10:20 p.m., when the boy and another minor were stopped by police officers while walking down the street.

According to authorities, the boy was carrying a compressed air pistol, which turned out to be an imitation Glock pistol. The video circulating on social media shows the boy running down a dark street with three police officers chasing him. One officer manages to knock the child down, and the others join in while onlookers rebuke the agents. The boy was shot during a struggle on the ground and later died from his chest wound at Wynn Hospital in Utica.

During a press conference called by authorities on Saturday to explain the incident, around 50 members of the deceased boy’s family attended, turning it into a protest against police violence. Utica Police Chief Mark Williams explained that the boy pulled out an imitation Glock pistol during the chase, which led to his death. The officers involved are suspended from employment pending an internal investigation.

The mayor of Utica, Michael Galime, also attended the press conference and described it as a routine search that escalated into tragedy within seconds. He promised to release the recordings from the body cameras worn by officers during their encounter with Nyah Mway. However, he also warned that not everything in circulation online is accurate or complete and urged people to wait for all information before drawing conclusions about what happened.