NYPD cop Peter Liang indicted in shooting death of Akai Gurley

New York City police officer Peter Liang has been indicted in the shooting death of 28-year-old Akai Gurley who was gunned down in the stairwell of  apartment building according to several media outlets. Rookie NYPD cop Peter Liang killed Gurley inside a darkened stairwell of the Louis Pink housing project where Liang was patrolling with another office in East New York, Brooklyn, on Nov. 20. Akai Gurley was using the stairwell with his girlfriend who witnessed the deadly shooting. It was reported that instead of rendering aid to Mr. Gurley or calling for help, Liang was on the phone texting his police union representative.

New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton initially characterized the shooting as an “accidental discharge,”  but it is nearly impossible to “accidentally” fire the type of handgun Liang was carrying. Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced back in December that he was convening a grand jury to investigate Mr. Gurley’s shooting which occurred in his district.

A spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorneys Officer has declined to confirm the indictment due to laws governing grand jury secrecy in New York. However, according to WNYC, Peter Liang is facing charges of criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, assault and official misconduct. This is a drastically different outcome than what occurred in the lack of indictment of the cop who choked and killed Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York leading to the mass protest against police brutality and lack of accountability in New York City.