13-Year-Old Boy Shot and Killed by UPD, Investigation Ongoing

Utica Police have announced the tragic death of a 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed by an officer following an investigation on Shaw Street.

This is a devastating story and Utica Police will continue to provide details as the investigation progresses, as will we. What we know now is at approximately 10:18 p.m. Friday, police say officers with the Crime Prevention Unit conducted a stop of two juveniles on the 900 block of Shaw Street related to an ongoing investigation.

Police say when officers made an attempt to stop the two individuals, one of them fled on foot and as he was doing so, displayed what appeared to officers to be a handgun. As a result, a Utica Police officer discharged his weapon and shot the young child, who is described as an asian male. Police say he was immediately transported to Wynn Hospital where life saving efforts were attempted, but eventually the 13-year-old succumbed to his injuries.

In an initial release the Utica Police Department gave thoughts and prayers to everyone involved including the family of the victim and the family of the individual involved.

On Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Utica Police held a press conference at city hall that included a large group of citizens who were angry with the situation and making their anger known. Utica Police Chief Mark Williams took the podium to read the details of the case and was met with jeers and shouts as he read the circumstances of the case. One woman could be heard saying the family of the victim was present at the press conference.

Mayor Michael Galime had to interject so that the crowd would calm down and listen in the effort of transparency. Chief Williams began again. Williams read the statement of what occurred aloud again and announced that in the subsequent investigation a replica handgun that turned out to be a pellet gun was found at the scene where the 13-year-old was shot.

While they have not yet, Chief Williams says the names of the officers involved will be released in a short period of time as they deem appropriate in the course of their investigation. During the course of an officer involved shooting, the Attorney General's Office will be investigating the incident. They will determine if there was a criminal act and if the officer was justified in the shooting death. There will also be an investigation through the Professional Standards Unit covering the administrative aspect of this.

The officers involved will be placed on administrative leave with pay, as with any officer involved shooting and Chief Williams says for the sake of transparency, body worn camera footage will be released in addition to other available videos per the investigation.

WIBX would like to thank Antoine Spratt, an independent journalist, for live streaming the press conference which you can see below,

This is a devastating story that is sending shockwaves throughout the community. The plight of youth violence in the city has come to a tragic head and action needs to be taken. There are very few details right now that we know for sure and it's important that we allow for proper investigations to be conducted. This will no doubt cause a further divide between police and the community, but youth violence and crime in the city was a powder keg and now it has exploded into something awful.

Continued prayers and thoughts go out to the families of everyone involved, especially the family of a 13-year-old child who has so tragically and awfully lost his life far too soon. WIBX will continue to follow this story and provide more details as they become available.

Full Statement from UPD Lieutenant Michael Curley Below

On June 28th, 2024 at approximately 10:18PM Utica Police officers assigned to the Crime Prevention Unit conducted a stop of two males on the 900 block of Shaw St regarding a Police investigation. During the course of the stop one of the juveniles fled from the officers. As the juvenile fled, what appeared to be a handgun was pointed at the officers, and one Utica Police Officer discharged one round from his firearm striking the male. Officers recovered a replica GLOCK 17 Gen 5 handgun with a detachable magazine following the shooting. Photos of the weapon will be disseminated. The 13-year-old Asian male juvenile was transported to Wynn Hospital where he sadly succumbed to his wounds. Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased juvenile, as well as our officers involved in this incident. We will not be releasing the names of our officers involved or the deceased party at this time, until all next of kin notifications can be made. As always, we are committed to transparency and earning the public’s trust in our investigations. As much information as allowable will be released during this process. However, in instances of officer involved shootings New York State Executive Law 70b mandates that the New York State Attorney General Office of Special Investigations has the lead criminal investigatory role. The Utica Police Department is conducting a joint parallel internal investigation with our Professional Standards Unit to determine if policies, procedures, and training were followed. Additionally, we will work closely and openly with the City of Utica Public Safety Advisory Committee. We value their mission and want to ensure through multiple facets the community is fully informed of the facts of this incident. Over the next several days we will be releasing multiple media formats publicly. We will release a Critical Incident Brief which will be a comprehensive overview of the events in their entirety. Additionally, we will release the full Body Worn Camera content of the involved officers. We are aware of a video of the incident circulating on social media platforms, which does not portray the incident in its entirety; we ask that the public obtains all of the information that will be made available when reviewing this tragic incident. We again offer our condolences to the family of the deceased juvenile during this very difficult time, as well as the many lives that this has now permanently changed within our community.