NYPD rookie faces murder charges after shooting unarmed black man and watching him die

'If it wasn't for the witness and Akai's friend there wouldn't have been any attention to Akai Gurley, because the police did nothing.'

NYPD rookie Peter Liang shot unarmed Akai Gurley in the chest, then did nothing to help as Gurley's girlfriend banged on a neighbor's door and told them to call 911. As Liang and his partner stood back, Gurley's girlfriend attempted to keep him alive with help from Emergency Medical Services (EMS) via her neighbor's relayed instructions.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Twenty-eight-year-old Liang has been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for recklessly firing his service gun into a dimly lit stairwell, where it ricocheted and hit 28-year-old Akai Gurley in the chest.

Liang faces up to 15 years in prison and is guilty of standing by as Gurley died.

New York Daily News reported Liang's trial is going just as badly as his decision the night he accidentally shot Gurley.

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday that Liang "broke rule after rule" when he patrolled Brooklyn's Pink Houses with his gun out and his finger on the trigger. 

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fliedner's opening statements included Officer Liang's training told him "not to put your finger on the trigger unless ready to shoot...He recklessly ignore that rule, and that's why we are here today."

When describing the scene, the prosecutor said the bullet struck Gurley in the chest and "tore through his heart." Then, when he should have attempted to save Gurley, Liang "stood there whining and moaning about how he could get fired," Fiedner described.

After firing his gun, Liang's partner, Shaun Landau, simply stated, "What the f--- just happened?" Fiedner added. All Liang responded with was, "It went off by accident."

Fiedner continued to describe the series of events. Gurley was shot on the stairwell between the fourth and fifth floor, but the officers moved up to the eighth to bicker as Gurley bled to death.

Meanwhile, Ballinger knocked on neighbor Melissa Lopez's door and Butler called 911 as Ballinger attempted to tend to Gurley.

Fliedner described the negligence each officer displayed, which led to the death of an innocent man: "None of them did CPR despite being trained. None checked if he was OK, if he had a pulse. He just shot an innocent man. Neither of them touched him, aided this dying man. Instead he walked around him, (Liang) still continued to bicker about calling it in to their supervisor."

The 911 call Lopez made was recorded and released to the public, where Lopez can be heard describing the scene, calling an ambulance and relaying messages to and from EMS and Ballinger.

"There's a cop right here," Lopez said, then she references Gurley and stutters, "He-he's not breathing." 

The operator asked, "are the cops still there? Are the cops there? Are the cops assisting her?"

"The cops are here," Lopez responded, "They're not assisting her. She's [Butler] alone with him, she's still doing CPR on him...He-he's not breathing...There's more cops, it's the ambulance is not here...She's doing compressions...The cop shot him. I-I'm in my house already. There's like a million cops in the hallway. I'm in my house...I just called because my neighbor knocked on my door...There's like a million cops and no ambulance."

Both Liang and Landau had been on the job less than a year and had been sent to patrol New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings. They were both working overtime when Liang shot Gurley.

Fliedner explained, "Liang was issued a police issued .9mm semi-automatic weapon. You will learn that NYPD makes sure its guns are harder to shoot. Why? To prevent accidental shootings."

Liang's lawyer, Rae Koshetz, claimed her client's finger was not resting on the trigger, but that he did have his gun out as he was worried for his safety.

She explained Liang's "gun was out because he was heading to the roof, the most dangerous area of the building," then sarcastically added, "Shaun Landau was a big help. He would not even give (Liang) the cellphone he had that had the phone number of their supervisor or to call for help. But he's not criminally charged."

In reference to Liang's lack of aid to the dying Gurley, Koshetz simply stated Liang didn't help because he couldn't.

"He was so upset, he was a wreck, hyperventilating. He needed oxygen. An ambulance was called for him," she stated, adding there was nothing he could have done.

"It is a fatal wound. No amount of CPR can save Akai Gurley," Koshetz stated.

The first witness to be called was Lopez, who described being in her apartment when she "heard a single shot from the stairway, then a bang on my door. The girl, she had blood on her, she was crying, asking for help, said her boyfriend was shot."

Lopez said Liang "did nothing. I didn't see him do anything. I saw him walk around them and come down the stairs to ask me what was the address to the building." 

When asked about Gurley's girlfriend, Lopez stated, "She was alone. She needed help and they weren't helping her."

---

The California Network is the Next Wave in delivery of information and entertainment on pop culture, social trends, lifestyle, entertainment, news, politics and economics. We are hyper-focused on one audience, YOU, the connected generation. JOIN US AS WE REDEFINE AND REVOLUTIONIZE THE EVER-CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE.