Cop Killing Of Black Man On Stairwell Probed

Akai Gurley, 28, was shot once in the chest

A district attorney says he plans to take a New York City police officer's fatal shooting of a black man before a grand jury.

Akai Gurley, 28, died on 20 November after he was shot once in the chest by a rookie cop.

Probationary Officer Peter Liang's gun fired accidentally on the dimly lit stairwell of a housing project, police officials have said.

Announcing the grand jury plan, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said in a statement: "It is important to get to the bottom of what happened."

He added: "I pledge to conduct a full and fair investigation and to give the grand jury all of the information necessary to do its job."

The prosecutor, who is black, said there was no timeline for the jurors to be impanelled. 

The New York Daily News reported on Friday that the officer who fired the fatal bullet texted his union representative as Mr Gurley lay dying.

After Officer Liang discharged the bullet that struck Mr Gurley, he and partner Shaun Landau did not respond to radio contact for more than six and a half minutes, according to the newspaper.

A neighbour phoned for the ambulance that took Mr Gurley to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, reports the Daily News.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said last month that Mr Gurley had been a "total innocent" who was killed by an "accidental discharge" in an "unfortunate tragedy".

Mr Gurley's family spoke out for the first time on Friday to demand justice.

His mother Sylvia Palmer told reporters: "He hasn't done nothing wrong. He's a good man, good, he loves his family, he loves his baby girl."

"He was going to bring home my granddaughter to visit me for the first time," she sobbed.

Meanwhile, the family of a 12-year-old boy who was carrying a pellet gun when he was shot dead by an Ohio police officer has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit.

New York has already seen two nights of protests after a grand jury cleared a white cop involved in the death of a black man who was subjected to an apparent chokehold during an arrest.

That decision, along with another grand jury's decision to clear a white cop who shot dead a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, has stoked a national debate about racial profiling, policing and US criminal justice.



--Source: SkyNews