Police fatally shot a New York teen holding a pellet gun. Here’s what we know about imitation firearms

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

(CNN) — Before an officer fatally shot Nyah Mway last week as he ran from law enforcement in upstate New York, the 13-year-old had pulled out what police said appeared to be a handgun.

But it wasn’t a real gun, authorities later discovered, they’ve said – only one capable of firing pellets.

Still, the firearm – which is entirely black, photos released by the Utica Police Department show – carried the same “Glock markings, signatures, detachable magazine and serial numbers” as a Glock 17 Gen 5 handgun, Utica Police spokesperson Lt. Michael Curley told The Associated Press.

“This weapon in every facet resembles a real GLOCK handgun, in functionality, appearance, and design,” he told CNN, adding it “fires .177 pellets.”

Nyah Mway apparently pointed the handgun at three officers while he ran away from them after dark, body camera footage released by Utica Police shows. The officers yelled “gun,” and one officer tackled and punched the teenager.

As they wrestled on the ground, another officer fired a single shot, the video shows. The teen was taken to a local hospital where he died, police said.

Imitation guns have led to unintended fatal consequences over the years, posing challenges for law enforcement who interpret them as real in a nation with more guns than people.

Here’s what we know about such items and some other cases:

What imitation firearms are – and aren’t

Toy, look-alike and imitation firearms are devices that “have the appearance, shape, and/or configuration of a firearm,” according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency that enforces federal rules governing them.

The term “look-alike firearm” includes:
• Toy guns
• Water guns
• Replica nonguns
• Airsoft guns firing nonmetallic projectiles

Some other guns that don’t fire live bullets, however, are not considered “look-alike firearms.” The term does not include:
• Non-firing collector replica antique firearms
• Traditional BB, paintball or pellet-firing air guns
• Decorative, ornamental and miniature objects that have the appearance of a firearm and measure no more than 38 mm by 70 mm (excluding any gun stock length)

In Utica, police initially said Nyah Mway was holding “a replica GLOCK pellet gun.” It appears a firearm with that description would not be considered a look-alike under the federal rule – although at night, it may have been virtually impossible for a police officer to know that.

What regulations require of look-alikes

While federal law does not govern the transfer, use or possession of imitation guns, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the way such items look when they’re “manufactured and entered into commerce” is regulated – to a degree – by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Every look-alike firearm – that is: toy guns, water guns, replica nonguns and airsoft guns that fire nonmetallic projectiles – must either:
• have a permanently affixed blaze orange plug inserted in the firearm’s barrel
• have a similar marking on the exterior of the barrel
• be constructed entirely of transparent or translucent materials
• or be covered in certain bright colors

The rules – in place since 1989 – don’t apply to non-firing replicas; BB, paintball or pellet guns; or decorative or mini firearms. They also do not cover “how consumers use or enjoy their products,” according to the commission.

Under those rules, it appears the Consumer Product Safety Commission would not require the gun Nyah Mway was carrying to bear “look-alike firearm” markings, such as an orange plug or transparent or bright coverings, either because of its pellet projectiles or as a replica.

Being able to buy a look-alike or imitation gun also can depend on the law. For example, while Amazon sells a variety of imitation firearms, the online marketplace won’t ship airsoft guns, non-powdered weapons like BB guns, pellet guns, paintball guns and air rifles or toy guns to places with sales restrictions, its policy states.

Amazon, Walmart and three other retailers announced a deal in 2015 with the then-attorney general of New York – where Nyah Mway was fatally shot – to stop selling realistic toy guns there. And Pennsylvania, Florida, Delaware and other states impose age restrictions on the possession, use or transfer of some non-powder guns, according to the Giffords Law Center.

‘No one could reasonably tell the difference’

Police across the United States shot 305 people brandishing non-powder and toy firearms between 2015 and 2023, according to a Giffords Law Center analysis of the Washington Post’s Fatal Force database, which tracks fatal shootings of civilians by police.

While police in Utica initially said Nyah Mway was holding “a replica GLOCK pellet gun,” they later clarified the term “replica” was used to describe its physical condition because of its resemblance to a Glock handgun, the department told CNN on Tuesday.

“In the future we will ensure that we utilize proper terminology so that there is no mistake in what we are trying to portray,” Curley said.

Imitation handguns in the hands of anyone – especially juveniles – pose many challenges for police departments across the country, Curley added.

“As we see in this tragic incident, split second decisions have to be made when individuals are in possession of realistic looking weapons that are indistinguishable from their real counterparts,” he said.

“No one could reasonably tell the difference between the two, much less in high stress situations where the item is being displayed.”

Imitation guns have led to other fatalities

In New York – where Nyah Mway was shot and killed – at least 63 shootings, eight of them fatal, unfolded as a result of people mistaking imitation weapons for real ones, according to 2015 data from the state Office of the Attorney General. Beyond that, hundreds of crimes have been committed in New York City with imitation weapons, the office said.

No new data was available on the issue, it told CNN this week.

Just last month, a teenager with an airsoft gun was fatally shot by an armed man who “took it upon himself” to conduct surveillance outside a sporting goods store in Washington state, according to court documents. The armed man “assumed” the teen and two others were about to commit a violent robbery, the prosecutor wrote. The man has been charged with murder. His attorneys say he was acting in self-defense, protecting himself and others.

Several years before that, Antonio Arce, 14, was fatally shot by police in Tempe, Arizona, while holding what later was determined to be a replica 1911 airsoft gun he’d just stolen from a truck reported to police as suspicious. The officer who fired was not criminally charged in Arce’s death.

And in 2014, Tamir Rice, 12, was shot and killed outside an Ohio recreation center when an officer opened fire after authorities mistook a black, toy airsoft pistol Tamir had for a real firearm. The US Justice Department in 2020 found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against the former officer who fired his weapon at Rice.

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