A 17-year-old teenager in the US has been accused of deliberately causing a train derailment to record it and post it on YouTube. According to court documents, the Nebraska teen allegedly caused the train to go off the tracks, recorded the incident, and shared the footage on YouTube, Metro reported.

The incident happened in April this year when the teen allegedly tampered with a rail switch, causing two locomotives and five fully loaded coal trains to veer off the tracks and crash into an empty coal car. He then alerted authorities to the derailment and asked the investigator who arrived what caused the crash. He told the investigator he was a train enthusiast and showed him the video he had shot of the derailment.

When authorities said they did not know the cause of the derailment, the boy said, ”Obviously a switch was flipped the wrong way.”

An investigator with BNSF Railway found that a padlock supposed to be attached to the switch was missing, indicating tampering. Three days later, a BNSF investigator obtained CCTV footage showing a 1996 Buick Park Avenue in the vicinity, with the same teenager walking towards the switch at the south end of the tracks. According to the affidavit, the teen was later recorded returning to his vehicle.

A video of the derailment was posted on a YouTube account believed to be linked to the teen, an investigator said. Authorities also discovered that a tripod had been set up near the accident site just four minutes before the train derailed. The derailment caused $350,000 in damages to BNSF Railway and the Omaha Public Power District, as per NBC News. 

The 17-year-old was charged in Lancaster County Juvenile Court on Wednesday, but prosecutors have requested that the case be moved to adult court. He faces two felony charges of criminal mischief in connection with a train derailment.

”My office will file a motion to transfer the case to adult court and it will be up to the juvenile court Judge to transfer the case or have it remain in juvenile court,” Lancaster County Attorney Patrick Condon told McClatchy News.

A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by police in New York’s Utica on June 28 after he wielded a replica gun, as per a report in People Magazine. Around 10 pm, Police Officer Patrick Husnay along with two other officers were patrolling an area where “at least two” robberies had taken place recently. The cops went up to Nyah Mway and another boy, also aged 13, who “were in the immediate vicinity of the previous robbery at nearly the same time of day,” based on the traits of suspects in a June 27 crime, according to the release from the Utica Police Department.

The two teenagers were the subject of an attempted citizen stop by the authorities. However, the teen escaped and produced what appeared to be a handgun when the police attempted to frisk him, according to the preliminary information.

The press release mentioned, “In one of the incidents that occurred on June 27th, the suspects were described as one Asian male and one dark skinned male, with one being on foot and the other on a bicycle. Based on the listed identifying factors from the robbery, officers approached Nyah Mway and the other juvenile as they matched the robbery suspects’ descriptions and were in the immediate vicinity of the previous robbery at nearly the same time of day.”

It added, “When the officers asked and went to pat frisk Nyah Mway, he immediately fled on foot. While fleeing he produced a replica GLOCK pellet gun from the front of his body, and during the 51 and 53 second mark on Officer Patterson’s BWC, points the weapon directly at Officer Patterson and the other officers.”

According to the authorities, Officer Husnay then shot the teen with his duty firearm. The 13-year-old was transported to a hospital, however, he died as a result of his injuries. The Utica Police Department released bodycam footage of the incident as well as pictures of the pellet gun.

According to ABC News, all three cops have been sent on administrative leaves. Further, a vigil was organised after his death. Several people including his family members attended the event.

The 13-year-old’s sister, Thoung Oo, created a GoFundMe page to “raise funds for his funeral, legal expenses to seek justice, and family expenses including counselling.” She said that her brother “was returning home from an 8th grade graduation barbecue” at the time of the shooting. He was an outgoing kid who loved to go biking and play with his friends and family.

Ms Oo said, “He has never gotten in trouble with law enforcement before, he was a good kid. The UPD video cam, the witness testimonies, and stories they told my family don’t add up, especially when they told my parents (who don’t speak English at all) that there was a shoot out. We need answers.”

Nyah had just graduated from eighth grade two days before the tragedy, according to his sister. She continued, “Because of this tragedy, I will never get to see him grow up. Nyah leaves behind our mother, father, and 3 siblings. Our family moved to America nine years ago as refugees from Myanmar to find a better life safe from law enforcement killings and ethnic cleansing. Our parents and grandparents did not flee war & corrupt military to be persecuted by American police.”