Police body cam footage released on Saturday shows an officer in upstate New York fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy who was tackled to the ground after he ran from police and allegedly pointed a replica handgun at them.
The shooting of the young Myanmar refugee has triggered outrage in the in a Utica, a city with a population of 65,000 that is home to more than 4,200 people from Myanmar.
The boy was killed shortly after 10:00 p.m. Friday in Utica after authorities stopped two teenagers as part of an armed robbery investigation.
The teens matched the descriptions of the robbery suspects and were in the area around the same time the following day, according to police.
In the video, an officer is heard telling the two that he needs to pat them down to check for weapons before one of them, identified by police as Nyah Mway, flees.
At one point on the tape he points was appears to be an actual gun at police, but it was later identified as a replica Glock 17 Gen 5 with a detachable magazine.
Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said that "during a ground struggle," one of the officers fired a single shot that struck the boy in the chest, the Associated Press reported.
Police spokesperson Lt. Michael Curley told AP that the replica gun carried by Mway "is in all aspects a realistic-looking firearm with GLOCK markings, signatures, a detachable magazine, and serial numbers."
A bystander posted footage of the confrontation on Facebook that captures officers chasing Mway and tackling him to the ground. The officer is then seen punching the teen as two other officers arrive, and a gunshot rings out.
Onlookers scream at the police throughout the recordings as the scene quickly turns chaotic.
The 13-year-old was given "immediate" first aid by the officers and taken to Wynn Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The officer who discharged his weapon and two others have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
Nyah Mway was an 8th grader at Donovan Middle School and a member of the Karen ethnic minority from Myanmar.
The police department released the body cam footage following a public outcry over the shooting.
