The screams of a grieving mother could be heard through Utica City Hall at a press conference Saturday morning, detailing the shooting death of a 13-year-old member of the Karen community by an officer on Friday night.
What started as rumblings turned into screams from all sides as Utica Mayor Michael Galime, through the help of an interpreter, spoke to the mother and family of the 13-year-old boy, identified as Nyah Mway.
Saturday's press conference was originally meant for members of the press, but was opened up to the general public due to the sheer number of people, according to the mayor.
"We called this press conference not to just explain and be completely transparent, but to offer our condolences to the family and the community for their loss," Galime said. "Yesterday evening, while a stop like the one that occurred is routine, it became tragic in near moments. We understand and we're here to be completely transparent and explain everything about the incident to the community and the process moving forward."
>Timeline of eventsTurning the press conference over to the police chief, Williams attempted to provide a timeline of events.
According to Police Chief Mark Williams, Utica police officers were conducting a pedestrian stop of two juveniles around 10:18 p.m. on Friday, June 28 in the 900 block of Shaw Street.
One of the juveniles, a male, fled from police. Williams said that during the chase, the juvenile displayed "...what appeared to be a handgun."
During the press conference, the moment these words were uttered by the police chief, those in attendance — more than 100 packed into City Hall — started screaming. Anger rose from the crowd with shouts of "No!" and attempts by some to calm the crowd down.
https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/2024/06/29/utica-police-officer-involved-in-shooting-teenager-dead/74254603007/ 