NYPD Officer Peter Liang ‘Guilty’ of Manslaughter in Akai Gurley Shooting

As I summed up the case of the shooting of Akai Gurley in the stairwell of a Brooklyn apartment tower when it happened back in November 2014, “Brooklyn Man Killed By Police Officer, For No Actual Reason at All; An “Accident” Says NYPD”. However, they did not find him guilty on charges of assault, reckless endangerment and criminally negligent homicide, according to PIX 11. Nor did he call for an ambulance and neither was he supposed to have his finger on the trigger under police procedure, the prosecutor said.

Instead of offering assistance to Gurley as he lay dying, Liang panicked and delayed calling in his “mistake” over the radio, instead calling his commanding officer’s cell phone. “This is recklessness. This is an officer who couldn’t properly handle his gun”.

Brown has said Gurley’s death is a tragedy, but not a crime. His lawyers had argued he was in a state of shock and felt unqualified to perform CPR due to inadequate police training.

Liang faces five to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge.

The defense had argued that unholstering the gun–despite no obvious threat–fell in line with protocol, because the building was known to be unsafe. “I said, ‘No, you’re not, it’s just an accidental discharge, ‘” Landau, who was a prosecution witness, testified.

Jurors delivered their verdict Thursday in Officer Peter Liang’s trial, convicting him of manslaughter and official misconduct.

In his closing statements, ADA Joe Alexis also suggested that Liang attempted to cover up the shooting.

Gurley’s girlfriend, Melissa Butler, performed CPR while another woman called 911. The elevator was out.

In Officer Liang’s case, evidence presented in the trial showed that the bullet ricocheted off a cinder block wall and hit Mr. Gurley.

Prosecutors argued that Officer Liang delayed reporting the shot for fear of losing his job and didn’t provide first aid to Mr. Gurley.

Liang and his partner, Shaun Landau, debated whether to call in the shot, with Liang expressing concern that he might be fired.

Then he went looking for the bullet and heard someone crying. It was then he he realized what had happened. Prosecutors said that Liang shouldn’t have had his gun drawn and that his actions were reckless. Liang was dismissed from the New York Police Department right after the verdict.

“I said, ‘Oh, my God, someone’s hit!” But that too has been questioned.

Police Officer Peter Liang, center, exits the courtroom during a break in closing arguments in his trial on charges in the shooting death of Akai Gurley, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at Brooklyn Supreme court in NY.