Probe launched by New York Attorney General in wake of police involved shooting of teenage boy in Utica

UTICA- The New York Attorney General’s Office and its Special Investigation Unit has launched a probe into a fatal shooting in the city of Utica, NY, which involved a police officer and a teenage boy.

The city police department says this investigation is standard to determine if any state laws were violated.

The shooting in question resulted in the death of Nyah Mway, 13, of Utica, NY. It happened during the late hours Friday in the western end of the city.

According to Utica Police, patrols were actively investigating at-least two confirmed robberies in the area, where witnesses described Asian male suspects brandishing a black colored firearm and forcibly stealing from their victims.

In another case the night before, bystanders described one dark skinned male and one Asian looking male.

Based on this information, the officers approached Mway and the other juvenile.

Investigators say when the officers asked and went to pat frisk Mway, he immediately fled on foot.

While fleeing, he reportedly produced a replica GLOCK pellet gun from the front of his body and proceeded to point it towards officers.

Utica Police officials say the investigation remains ongoing. 

A full press release from Utica City Police is available below and official body cam footage from the incident has been released (NOTE: Viewer discretion is advised, as the footage contains graphic images):

"As promised, multiple items will be covered in this release. It is our understanding that several media outlets have positively identified the deceased juvenile, and we can confirm his identity to be Nyah Mway, age 13, of Utica, NY. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time. We will continue to be as transparent and accessible to the family and community as legally allowed as this process continues.

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.

As in any Officer Involved Shooting investigation it is within the purview of the NYS Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations to determine whether the shooting violated any state laws; however, we felt it prudent to ensure the entirety of the evidence we have available at this time is shared publicly – keeping with our commitment to transparency.

This release will contain multiple pieces of evidence that we are sharing with the public. We have included a Google Drive link so that anyone can click and view all items and BWC footage. In the link there will be a folder showing the handgun and other files that show the body worn camera videos.

Though it is certainly understood that this will not answer all of the questions that the public may have about this investigation, as we have stated, there are two ongoing parallel investigations: the NYS Attorney General’s; and the Utica Police Department’s Professional Standards internal investigation. It is our sincerest desire that at the conclusion of these investigations an impartial, fair, and thorough investigation will have been completed, giving answers to any remaining lingering questions.

Future updates will be issued as available and demanded, and our doors are always open to discuss what we are legally allowed to do so at this time."

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