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A new light illuminates the stairwell where Akai Gurley was shot to death by rookie NYPD officer Peter Liang at the Louis Pink public housing complex in Brooklyn early on Thanksgiving 2014.(Photo: John Minchillo, AP)
A grand jury has indicted a New York City police officer in the death of an unarmed black man who was shot in a darkened stairwell of a housing project last November, reports say.
Attorney Scott Rynecki said Tuesday that Officer Peter Liang has been indicted, Associated Press and other New York media outlets reported. He didn't have further information on the specific charges.
Rynecki is the attorney for the domestic partner of Akai Gurley, who was killed Nov. 20.
The officer was patrolling when Gurley and his girlfriend opened a door into the dark stairwell. Police say Liang fired without a word and apparently by accident.
"No matter the specific charges, this case is an unspeakable tragedy for he Gurley family,'' New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We urge everyone to respect the judicial process as it unfolds.''
USA TODAY
Grand jury to review NYPD killing in stairwell
Gurley, 28, was shot once in the chest as he and his girlfriend opened an exit door into the unlighted stairway at a Brooklyn housing development Nov. 20. Residents used the stairs because the elevators often broke down, and the lights reportedly had been out for several days.
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson previously said he would present the case to a grand jury "because it is important to get to the bottom of what happened."
"I pledge to conduct a full and fair investigation and to give the grand jury all of the information necessary to do its job," he said in December, rejecting calls for a special prosecutor. He did not offer a timetable for the panel to complete its work once impaneled.
Thompson previously called the shooting "deeply troubling."
Liang, 27, had been on the force for less than 18 months, was patrolling a darkened stairwell at the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York when Gurley was shot. Police Commissioner William J. Bratton acknowledged at the time that the shooting had been a grave error.
Pallbearers carry the casket of Akai Gurley into Brown Baptist Memorial Church in Brooklyn before his wake Dec. 5.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: John Minchillo, AP)
The New York Times reported that an announcement of charges was expected by prosecutors Wednesday afternoon, but said it was not known whether the charges would include homicide counts, such as manslaughter.
The shooting occurred Nov. 20 in the weeks before the decision on Staten Island not to indict an officer in another case, the police chokehold death of Eric Garner. The move sparked mass protests and calls for reform of the grand jury system.
Patrick Lynch, head of Liang's union, the Police Benevolent Association, said the officer deserves due process.
"The fact the he was assigned to patrol one most dangerous housing projects in New York City must be considered among the circumstances of this tragic accident," Lynch said.
Contributing: Associated Press
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