UTICA, NY — A 13 year old boy shot dead by police in upstate New York, after pointing an object at officers that later turned out to be a BB gun, will be buried Saturday.
Nyah Mway’s funeral will be held in Friedel, Williams & Edmunds, a funeral home in Utica, in the morning, according to Jim Friedel, the center’s director and a funeral director. A ceremony will follow at a local cemetery.
Mway, whose last name is Nyah, was killed on June 28 after he ran from officers after being stopped on the street, according to Utica police.
Bodycam footage released by police shows officers yelling “gun!” before one of them tackles Mway to the ground and punches him. Another officer opens fire as the two struggle on the ground.
The teen was shot in the chest and died at the hospital. Police said they recovered a pellet gun that appeared to be a Glock 17 from the scene of the shooting.
Mway was a refugee born in Myanmar and belonged to the Karen minority. He had just graduated from high school.
His relatives and other members of the local Karen community have called for police accountabilitybecause the boy had already been overpowered and was lying on the ground when he was shot.
The Public Prosecution Service is investigating and the police officers involved have been suspended in accordance with protocol.