Rookie cop fatally shoots unarmed Brooklyn man walking down a staircase

Rookie cop fatally shoots unarmed Brooklyn man walking down a staircase
(Image credit: iStock/JaysonPhotography)
Julie Kliegman
By
last updated

A New York City cop fatally shot an unarmed Brooklyn man Thursday night, The New York Times reports. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton both referred to the shooting as an accident.

Peter Liang drew his flashlight and gun as he and his partner entered a dark apartment stairwell a floor above Akai Gurley, 28, and his girlfriend, Melissa Butler, 27. Liang and his partner were on a vertical patrol of the building.

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Julie Kliegman
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.

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