Around 10 pm, three officers patrolling the area stopped Nyah Mway and a friend, believing they fit the description.

[16] Nyah Mway's family stated that, despite police notifying them that he was in the hospital, they did not understand what had happened until they watched the bystander video.

Utica Mayor Mike Galime and Police Chief Mark Williams held a press conference the morning of the next day, but they ended the meeting once attendees began angrily shouting at them.

Later that day a vigil was held at the site of Nyah Mway's death, attended by community members and Buddhist and Christian clergy.

Kuan and Ward had previously represented the family of Tamir Rice in their wrongful death suit against the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

[25] The demands included an official apology and admission of wrongdoing by the mayor and police department, the termination of the three officers involved, for the city to cover the costs of Nyah Mway's funeral and burial as well as mental health expenses for his family, and a civilian oversight board.

The family's lawyers and local community leaders criticized the video for its focus on the possibly unrelated robberies.

[22][11] The Karen community attended a Common Council meeting on August 7, where they read their demands and criticized city government's response to the shooting.

[29] On September 17, Nyah Mway's family announced that his mother had filed a notice of claim against the city of Utica.

[32][33] Karen-American organizations outside Utica released statements condemning the killing, with one describing it as an instance of police brutality and gun violence, and another as systemic racism within law enforcement.

[35] The New York Times noted that, as is common in immigrant communities, activism for Nyah Mway was led by younger Karen activists in their teens and twenties who grew up in the United States and spoke English well.

Meanwhile, older members of the community, who lived through decades of violence in Myanmar, feared retribution for speaking out against city government.

[2] A CBS News report noted that since from 2014 to 2024, more than 300 people had been shot and killed by police while holding replica guns, of which 19 of those were minors.

[36] A local leader, speaking on July 9, said that in "war-torn" Myanmar, children were taught that "when you see the military or law enforcement, you run or you die", and suggested that could explain Nyah Mway's flight from the police.