The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation has opened an investigation into the death of Nyah Mway, who died on Saturday after an encounter with the Utica Police Department in Utica.
In the early morning hours of June 29, UPD officers approached 13-year-old Nyah Mway, who reportedly displayed what appeared to be a handgun. A struggle ensued, during which an officer fired his service weapon, striking Mway. Mway was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Officers recovered a BB gun at the scene.
Pursuant to New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, OSI assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed. Also, the decedent may or may not be in custody or incarcerated. If OSI’s assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident. These are preliminary facts and subject to change.
The Utica Police Department issued this release:
The three Utica Police Officers assigned to the Crime Prevention Unit involved in last night’s incident are identified as Patrick Husnay, a six-year veteran of the Utica Police Department. Officer Husnay is the officer that fired his duty weapon striking the juvenile. Bryce Patterson, a four-year veteran, and Andrew Citriniti a two-and-a-half-year veteran who previously served with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office.
On the 28th of June these officers were proactively patrolling the West Utica area near Shaw Street to assist the Criminal Investigations Division (“CID”) with at least two recent robbery investigations in which the suspects were described as Asian males who brandished a black in color firearm and forcibly demanded and stole property from victims. In one of the incidents that occurred on June 27th, the suspects were described as one Asian male and one dark skinned male, with one being on foot and the other on a bicycle. Based on the listed identifying factors from the robbery, officers approached Nyah Mway and the other juvenile as they matched the robbery suspects’ descriptions and were in the immediate vicinity of the previous robbery at nearly the same time of day. Furthermore, he was walking in the roadway in violation of New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law 1156a. At the time of the stop, the officers were following requests from the Criminal Investigations Division to interview and identify parties matching the characteristics of the robbery suspects, which, as stated, the two juveniles matched. Accordingly, the officers attempted to conduct a citizen stop of the two 13-year-old juveniles.
As will be illustrated in the body worn camera (BWC) footage accompanying this release, when the officers asked and went to pat frisk Nyah Mway, he immediately fled on foot. While fleeing he produced a replica GLOCK pellet gun from the front of his body, and during the 51 and 53 second mark on Officer Patterson’s BWC, points the weapon directly at Officer Patterson and the other officers.
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