A 13-year-old boy shot to death by police in upstate New York after he pointed what turned out to be a BB gun at officers was laid to rest Saturday.
Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral for Nyah Mway in Utica, with mourners filling up the funeral home and extending out to the sidewalk to pay their respects, The Rome Daily Sentinel reported.
Videos shared on social media show a solemn ceremony was then held at a local cemetery.
Members of the city's Karen ethnic minority community, a number of them wearing traditional clothing, laid flowers and wreaths while several Buddhist monks led the gathering in prayer as Mway's white coffin was lowered into the ground.
Mourners also announced as the service concluded that they planned to hold a peaceful march in the city next Saturday to seek justice for the teen.
Mway, whose family name is Nyah, was killed June 28 after Utica police say he ran from officers after being stopped on the street.
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Body camera footage released by police shows officers scream “gun!” before one of them tackles Mway to the ground and punches him. Another officer opens fire as the two wrestle on the ground.
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The teen was shot in the chest and died at the hospital. Police said they recovered a pellet gun resembling a Glock 17 from the scene of the shooting.
Mway was a refugee born in Myanmar and a member of the Karen ethnic minority who had just graduated from middle school.
His relatives and other members of the local Karen community have called for police to be held accountable, as the boy was already subdued and on the ground when he was shot.
The state attorney general’s office is investigating and the police officers involved have been placed on leave, as is protocol.
