Ex-NYPD officer won't face jail time in stairwell shooting case

Former New York City police officer Peter Liang will not serve any jail time for the 2014 shooting death of unarmed black man Akai Gurley, after a judge decided Tuesday to reduce his conviction to criminally negligent homicide. Instead, Liang received five years' probation and 800 hours of community service.

The judge contends that Liang, then 28, never intended to shoot Gurley when he became startled while patrolling a dark stairwell in a Brooklyn public housing project. Liang had previously been convicted of manslaughter and official misconduct for firing the shot that ricocheted off the stairwell wall, killing Gurley.

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