NYPD cop shoots and kills unarmed man in brooklyn

www.huffingtonpost.com...

The fatal police shooting of an unarmed man in Brooklyn Thursday night appears to have been an "unfortunate tragedy," New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said Friday.

Two officers, meanwhile, were conducting a vertical patrol -- also known as a top to bottom patrol -- inside the building. Upon entering the "dark" stairwell on the eighth floor, Bratton said, Officer Peter Liang drew his gun and flashlight as a safety precaution. That's when Gurley and his girlfriend -- identified by the New York Daily News as Melissa Butler -- also entered the stairwell.

At that moment, Liang fired one round from the eighth floor landing. Gurley, who was on the seventh floor landing, was struck in the chest
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Bratton said that according to a preliminary investigation, "it appears this may have been an accidental discharge." Gurley "was not engaged in any criminal activity of any type," Bratton said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters Friday, according to Capital New York, that the shooting of Gurley "does appear to have been an accident" and that people shouldn't "connect all the dots" between Gurley, Brown and Garner.

Other lawmakers on Friday expressed alarm and concern over Gurley's death.

"The senseless killing of another unarmed African-American male by the NYPD should shock the conscience of all New Yorkers and the nation," U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said in a statement. "At this point, talk is cheap. The community demands action."
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hell of an accident no?

they were doing a sweep....im thinking since a call was not made it was a pretty routine thing to do....checking for whatever.

is it common to draw the weapon for something like that?
since it was a big ass apartment they had to think the chances were pretty good they would come across someone....

a reply to: Grovit

Gerley got Glocked, defined as cops with guns that have no disearn able safety. The move to military type weapons for officers in an urban environment begs for trouble. Revolvers and shotguns would seem a smarter choice.

And the hits keep comming.

The day that cops (and their families) start becoming targets is fast approaching. Sad times!

originally posted by: Nickn3

Gerley got Glocked, defined as cops with guns that have no disearn able safety.

I tend to agree, the trigger pull is very light, one of the reasons I do not own one. I prefer a sidearm like the Sig Sauer with its decocking lever and higher trigger pull. Makes actually pulling the trigger a bit more of an effort, both physically and mentally.

a reply to: Nickn3

I would have thought that if firearms are required by police officers, then those which are simplest to use would be best. To my mind a revolver is simply a more cumbersome thing to operate, trickier to reload at speed, and has a lower capacity than one would expect, given that criminals do not limit themselves to such things.

HOWEVER, just because a firearm is a pistol rather than a revolver, does not mean it should not have a safety switch, to render it impossible to fire without deliberate intent. The weapons of these officers being drawn for a simple patrol, as opposed to a situation in which they were actively seeking a suspect, is somewhat strange, but if their weapons had safeties, and those safeties were on until such point as a target was not only spotted, but confirmed as hostile, then this tragic event would not have happened...

... Unless of course, the officer who shot the victim had switched his safety off and blown the fellow away without provocation.

This was posted here earlier, but in a different forum.

You forgot to mention that these were both rookies on patrol together. That is a big factor in why this happened IMHO.

Policy needs to change, a lot. Until then, expect more just like this. When you are young and dumb, and faced with a black person in front of you, you have to make that decision to either shoot them, or say hello to them. In case there are any rookie cops reading this, saying hello is the preferred method.

a reply to: network dude

Wait... I missed that part.

Why are rookies paired up on patrol? Surely there should be one new officer, and one old hand, just to ensure that rookie errors are kept to a minimum by judicial application of the occasional slap upside the head?

DP

originally posted by: network dude
a reply to: TrueBrit

Yea, that is what pissed me off so much. A simple mistake that easily could have been avoided. And the man who was shot had a daughter. Who is going to look after her like a daddy would?

Tragedies are much much different than stupid mistakes. This was a stupid mistake and not all the blame should fall on the rookie cop. IMHO.

Here, from the Fox news article in the thread I linked earlier:

A rookie cop fatally shot an unarmed man inside a Brooklyn housing project late Thursday, authorities said.

The cop and his partner, also a rookie, were descending from a dimly lit eighth-floor stairwell at the Pink Houses at 2724 Linden Blvd. about 11:15 p.m. The 28-year-old victim, Akai Gurley, entered from the seventh floor with his girlfriend, startling the cops, police sources said.

a reply to: network dude

Well I have to agree with you that although the rookie pulled the trigger, ultimately the N.Y.P.D. and by extension, the City itself, ought to take responsibility.

I cannot conceive of a policy which allows rookies to partner with rookies, which would not automatically put both those officers, and the public at significant and undue risk of harm coming to them due to the inexperienced nature of the officers involved.

Is it common practice for newly shielded police officers to be partnered together, and if so, why? If it is not, then what were these two newbs doing on patrol together in the first place? And furthermore, if they both passed through the training required to gain a badge and gun in service to the people and the law, then what the hell was being taught by their instructors?

This incident raises some pretty probing questions about policy affecting several areas of policing if you ask me.

And what you said about the victim here having a daughter... its bad enough when any innocent party gets offed while about their legitimate business, worse when a policeman is the shooter, and just horrific when that death leaves a void in a young persons life. Its a damn shame.

how long is one considered a rookie?
he was on the job for 18 months

Ok, so when can we expect the charges for criminally negligent manslaughter, or negligent homicide?

I mean, if I whupped out a firearm and plugged some random person by 'accident', I'd be doing some serious jail time.

...that the weapon of choice is a lethal one.

too many taser videos make them less popular? too many perps getting found innocent?

how about giving suspects their day in court?

please, just tase me bro!

Haven't people learned the fact that the cops are never wrong. Just ask those who are here or their girl friends.

If you're too scared to go into a dark stairwell without a gun drawn, maybe you shouldn't be a cop.



And an accidental discharge that just happened to be aimed at a person accurately enough to kill him with one bullet.

right.

a reply to: Grovit

I don't understand the meaning of "accidental discharge". First safety rule is you always place your finger away from trigger. If cops are unable to do that then they shouldn't have weapons.

Did the gun fire itself?

How does a cop placing his finger on a trigger and pulling which results in murder count as accidental discharge?

Accidental discharge to me is if you have a gun in your holster and it goes off due to a malfunction in the hardware.

Edit: I see definition of accidental discharge is synonymous with negligent discharge. Either way, at the very least this cop should be charged with manslaughter just like any civilian would. Actually cops should be held to higher standard because they are in position of power and have had training.

Police officers should be charged with manslaughter when "accidents" like this happen. There is no excuse not to.

In every other line of work, you run the risk of being charged with involuntary manslaughter, or worse if an honest mistake results in the death of another person.

When you work with deadly equipment, whether it be a firearm, heavy construction equipment, or a motor vehicle, you are responsible for any death or injuries result from a failure to follow safety guidelines. Getting scared and shooting a random person is no different than dozing off at the wheel and causing a massive traffic accident like THIS GUY.

Until the police are held accountable for their crimes, they have no reason to give two rat's backsides about the safety of bystanders. This is the root of the problem and the only way to stop these kind of travesties from happening again and again is to hold individual police officers, and their departments fully responsible for their mistakes.

a reply to: xDeadcowx

This right here.

Why are cops not held accountable the same way workers are in various other industries?

Something fishy about this story - we all know rookies are paired with cops who are one week away from retiring.

Then what happens when a cop “accidentally" shots somebody dead?

A police source told the Daily News that Liang was holding his Glock 9 mm. pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Liang, who joined the force in July 2013, had just entered the pitch-black stairwell on the eighth floor when his gun accidentally discharged, police said.www.nydailynews.com...