ME: Police Shooting Death Of Unarmed Brooklyn Man Ruled Homicide

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Prosecutors are trying to determine if the fatal police shooting of an unarmed Brooklyn man was an accident or a crime. The New York Medical Examiner ruled the death of 28-year-old Akai Gurley a homicide on Sunday, saying he died from a single bullet to the torso. “The manner of death in this case means that death resulted in whole or in part from the actions of another person or persons and not from natural causes such as disease,” the medical examiner said in a statement. “The classification does not imply any statement about intent or culpability.” Police said the fatal shooting Thursday night at the Pink Houses public housing complex in East New York appears accidental, but the Rev. Al Sharpton and other public officials are calling for prosecutors to investigate thoroughly. Prosecutors Investigating Fatal Police Shooting Of Unarmed Brooklyn Man John Montone reports play pause “They are saying it was an accident,” Sharpton said. “We’re saying how do we know until there is a thorough investigation?” He spoke at a rally in Harlem on Saturday, standing alongside Gurley’s 2-year-old daughter, her mother and several elected officials. “We’re not demonizing the police,” Sharpton said, but “this young man should not be dead.” Police said rookie Officer Peter Liang and his partner, also new to the force, were patrolling the stairwell between the seventh and eighth floors when the shooting occurred. Gurley was leaving his girlfriend’s apartment after she had braided his hair, according to the girlfriend, who is not his daughter’s mother. Police said the officers walked down the stairs onto an eighth-floor landing when Gurley and his girlfriend opened a stairwell door one floor down, after giving up on waiting for an elevator. Police said Liang, patrolling with his gun drawn, fired without a word and apparently by accident, hitting Gurley from a distance of about 10 feet. It’s still not clear why Liang had his weapon drawn. “We leave that decision as to when to take a firearm out at the discretion of the officer,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said last week. Bratton called Gurley’s death a tragedy that befell someone “totally innocent.” Liang, 26, has been placed on modified duty. Under standard policy, police internal affairs investigators won’t be able to question him until prosecutors have decided whether to file criminal charges. Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson has called the shooting “deeply troubling” and said it warrants “an immediate, fair and thorough investigation.” The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said its civil rights unit is investigating. “District Attorney Thompson will let the facts and the evidence and the law guide his office into doing the right thing,” Congressman Hakeem Jeffries said.