NYPD “Accidental Discharge” Kills Unarmed Man
BY Herschel Smith10 years ago
A rookie cop fatally shot an unarmed man inside a dimly lit Brooklyn housing project stairwell late Thursday — igniting an investigation by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, authorities said.
Peter Liang and his partner, Shaun Landau, also a rookie, entered at the eighth floor at the Pink Houses at 2724 Linden Blvd. about 11:15 p.m. when 28-year-old victim Akai Gurley entered from the seventh floor with his girlfriend — startling the cops, police sources said.
Liang fired one shot into Gurley’s chest from about 10 to 12 feet away, sending him tumbling down to the fifth floor, where he collapsed, sources said. He later told other cops it was an “accidental shooting,” sources said.
During a press conference Friday, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton described the incident as an “accident” that was the result of a “pitch black” stairway.
“As the officers were entering the eighth-floor landing, the lights were not operable,” he said. “Everything points to accidental discharge.”
So apparently he had his finger on the trigger of his weapon, he had the muzzle of the weapon pointed in the direction of another human, he pulled the trigger, the area was “pitch black,” and he killed a man. But it was “accidental.”
And remember boys and girls. If you or I do this we are headed to prison – for a very long time.
On November 21, 2014 at 8:26 pm, Rog Jerry said:
Did these cops not have flashlights? The internal investigation will find that “all police procedures were followed” – that is, what 99% of internal investigations find, no matter what the facts are.
On November 21, 2014 at 8:32 pm, dan said:
MURDER BY COP…….nothing to see here..SOP…reload do it again…..imho
On November 22, 2014 at 12:55 am, Bill Daigle said:
Good the guy didn’t have his kid or dog with him…or the whole family, multiple tangos fire fire fire
On November 22, 2014 at 8:07 am, Daniel Barger said:
It’s only accidental when it’s a “chosen one”. For the rest of us it’s manslaughter…..or murder if the DA has aggressive political aspirations. Remember, all animals are equal, it’s just that some are MORE equal than others…especially the PIGS.
On November 23, 2014 at 7:25 am, unclezip said:
Sure. But in the end, we have Bacon!
On November 22, 2014 at 11:34 am, Ned Weatherby said:
Paid vacation for another murderer…
On November 22, 2014 at 6:07 pm, Matheus Grunt said:
Manslaughter, at the least.
On November 22, 2014 at 9:23 pm, FedUpWithWelfareStates said:
No such thing as an “Accidental Discharge,” only “Negligent Discharges…”
On November 22, 2014 at 10:51 pm, Miles said:
Now, the incident described does not fall within that category, but there are ‘accidental’ discharges.
e.g.
The safety on a bolt action rifle has worn to the point where it will let the rifle, very sporadically, fire when it is flipped from “safe” to “fire” when the rifle is in just a certain position. The shooter does not know this, as it has not happened yet. If the lucky number comes up and the rifle is loaded – *Ker-Bang*!
Another is when the engagement of the trigger and hammer on a semi-auto rifle are worn to the point that the rifle will sporadically fire again when the trigger is very slowly released after a shot. The shooter had properly performed a standard function check and the rifle passed. It also passed even when checked by more experienced shooters, but the defect was only detected when checked by a much more highly trained weapons inspector.
Those are accidental discharges as no negligence can be imputed to the shooter.
There are other examples, but those will do for now.