New York-a police officer in the state of New York will not face criminal charges for the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy who indicated what turned out to be a BB weapon, the state attorney general Letitia James announced on Wednesday.
Nyah Mway was shot dead after he fled from the officers who interrogated him and another teenager in a residential street in Utica on the night of June 28, 2024.
Officer Patrick Husnay chased Mway, approached him to the ground and shot a single shot in his chest. He was taken to a hospital where he died.
James, by publishing the 18 -page shooting review of his office, concluded that prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s actions were not justified.
Husnay and two other officers had approached Mway because it coincided with the description of a suspect involved in an armed robbery last night, he said. Mway fled when the officers tried to caress him. Then he took out what seemed to be a gun and pointed to an officer.
“According to the New York Justification Law, a police officer can use mortal physical force when the officer reasonably believes that it is necessary to defend against the use of mortal physical force by another,” James said.
Mway, whose last name is Nyah, was a Karen refugee born in Myanmar. He had just graduated from high school and was ready to start high school in autumn.
His family, in a statement sent by email, said he was reviewing James’s report, but thanked his office for investigating.
“Regardless of what the report concludes, we know what we lost. We know what we experience,” says the statement. “Nyah deserved to grow. We deserve to live in a community where children like him are protected, not persecuted.”
The family and other members of the Karen community had asked the police to be responsible, since Mway was already subjected and on the ground when they shot him.
The videos of the body of the body launched by the police in the days after the murder showed a chaotic scene. Officers shout “Pistol!” before one of them addresses it and hits it. Another officer opens fire while the two fight on the ground while the spectators shout at the police.
Police also launched images that showed the BB Gun Mway a lot pointed out a Glock 17 Gen 5 pistol. They also noticed that it did not have an orange band in the barrel that many BB arms manufacturers have added in recent years to distinguish their products from real firearms.
Utica police chief Mark Williams, and Mayor Michael Galime, in a joint statement on Wednesday, said they were “pleased.”
They expressed hope that the city could heal after the tragedy.
“From that night, we have tirelessly recover relationships and trust with the Birmanos and Karen communities,” reads the statement. “We believe that these connections have never been stronger than they are today.”
Husnay and the Utica Police officers union did not immediately respond to the emails looking for comments on Wednesday night.
Karens are an ethnic minority that war with the military rulers of Myanmar, who was previously known as Burma.
Utica, located about 240 miles northwest of Manhattan, is home to more than 4,200 people from Myanmar. They are among thousands of refugees from several countries that have been established in the area in recent decades.
