In January, a police officer responding to a large street fight in the Bronx was shot in an ankle. Liang has pleaded not guilty, and his defense has suggested he had his gun drawn because of the dangerous nature of the assignment. Prosecutors say Liang was reckless and shouldn't have had his finger on the gun's trigger. Akai Gurley was on a lower floor walking to the lobby and was struck and killed. Rookie officer Peter Liang had his gun drawn in a pitch-black stairwell at the Louis Pink Houses in Brooklyn when he accidentally fired a shot.
He said the shooting shows the difficulty and danger of vertical patrols.Ī police officer is on trial for manslaughter in Brooklyn after shooting an unarmed man during a similar patrol in November 2014. 'This goes to show the dangers police officers face each and every day.' 'We need your support to teach our young folks that pulling a gun on a police officer works for no one,' he said. The head of the police officers' union, Patrick Lynch, said the shooting shows the dangerous nature of the job.
