The killing of Akai Gurley happened on November 20, 2014, when a rookie New York City police officer fired a single shot in a darkened Brooklyn stairwell and the ricocheting bullet struck the 28-year-old unarmed Black man in the chest. Officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter in February 2016, then sentenced two months later to five years of probation and 800 hours of community service after a judge reduced the verdict to criminally negligent homicide. He served no prison time.
What Happened in the Stairwell
Gurley was born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1986 and moved to New York as a child. He lived with his girlfriend Kimberly Ballinger and their two-year-old daughter, Akaila.1BlackPast. Gurley, Akai Kareem (1986-2014) On the night he was killed, Gurley was visiting another girlfriend, Melissa Butler, at her apartment in the Louis H. Pink Houses, a public housing complex in East New York, Brooklyn.2CBS News. Peter Liang Akai Gurley Testimony
Peter Liang, also 28, had been out of the police academy for roughly 11 months. He and his partner Shaun Landau, both rookies, were assigned a mandatory overtime shift conducting a “vertical patrol” of the Pink Houses, a floor-by-floor NYPD sweep of high-rise stairwells prompted by recent shootings in the area.3University of Georgia Law Digital Commons. Georgia Law Review, Vol. 51, Issue 4 The stairwell they entered was unlit. Liang had his gun drawn.4ABC 7 New York. NYPD Officer Peter Liang Found Guilty of Manslaughter
Liang later testified that he was startled by a sound and pulled the trigger accidentally.5Mother Jones. Peter Liang Police Conviction The bullet ricocheted off a concrete wall and hit Gurley in the chest as he entered the stairwell one floor below with Butler. Gurley was unarmed and had no connection to anything the officers were patrolling for. He was in the stairwell because the building’s elevator was broken.6Courthouse News Service. City Reaches $4M Deal on Akai Gurley Killing Prosecutors said Liang had faced no threat that would have justified his finger being on the trigger.7ABC News. NYPD Officer Convicted of Manslaughter in Death of Akai Gurley
Neither Officer Rendered Aid
What the officers did in the minutes after the shooting became almost as contested as the shot itself. Neither Liang nor Landau attempted CPR or called for medical help. According to law enforcement sources, Liang texted his union representative rather than radioing for an ambulance, and neither officer could be reached by their commanding officer for more than six minutes.8The Guardian. Officer in Lethal Shooting Texted Union Rep Instead of Calling Ambulance9Slate. Akai Gurley Shooter Peter Liang Texted Union Before Requesting Help
Melissa Butler tried to keep Gurley alive. She performed CPR on a fifth-floor landing and later testified she told him, “Stay with me. I’m getting help.”10WNYC. Gurley’s Girlfriend Recounts His Final Moments Landau testified that he watched her do it. “I didn’t feel qualified to perform CPR,” he told the court.11ABC 7 New York. NYPD Officer Testifies at Manslaughter Trial of His Former Partner Peter Liang A neighbor Butler asked eventually called 911.6Courthouse News Service. City Reaches $4M Deal on Akai Gurley Killing Gurley did not survive.
Both officers later told the court that their police academy CPR training had been perfunctory. Landau said he spent less than two minutes practicing on a mannequin and was given the certification exam’s answers in advance. Liang said he was only “sort of” trained and never meaningfully practiced.12New York Post. Peter Liang’s CPR Instructor Stripped of Her Badge and Gun
Indictment and Conviction
A Brooklyn grand jury indicted Liang in February 2015 on six counts: second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, and two counts of official misconduct.13The Guardian. Akai Gurley NYPD Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Manslaughter He was the first NYPD officer indicted for an on-duty shooting in roughly a decade.14The Guardian. Peter Liang, Akai Gurley Killing, and Asian American Response
The trial opened in Brooklyn Supreme Court in late January 2016. Prosecutors framed the case as one of reckless conduct rather than police brutality, arguing that Liang should not have had his finger on the trigger when there was no threat.15ABC News. NYPD Officer Peter Liang Sentenced in Deadly Stairwell Shooting The defense called the shooting a tragic accident.16TPR. Former NYPD Officer Peter Liang Gets Probation for Fatal Shooting Landau testified for the prosecution under an immunity agreement.17Reuters. Partner of NY Police Officer Convicted in Shooting Is Fired
On February 11, 2016, the jury convicted Liang of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct. The manslaughter count carried a potential 15-year prison sentence.4ABC 7 New York. NYPD Officer Peter Liang Found Guilty of Manslaughter He was the first NYPD officer convicted for an on-duty shooting in more than ten years.18The Guardian. Peter Liang, Akai Gurley Killing
Why Liang Served No Prison Time
Before sentencing, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson made an unusual recommendation for a prosecutor who had just won a manslaughter conviction: no prison. Thompson asked for five years of probation, six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, and 500 hours of community service. He argued there was no evidence Liang intended to kill Gurley, that Liang had no criminal history, and that the case “has always been about justice and not about revenge.”19Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Ken Thompson’s Statement Regarding the Upcoming Sentencing of Peter Liang20The New York Times. Prosecutor Won’t Seek Prison for Peter Liang
On April 19, 2016, Justice Danny Chun went further. Using his discretion, Chun reduced the jury’s manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide, a less serious offense, and sentenced Liang to five years of probation and 800 hours of community service, with no prison time and no house arrest.15ABC News. NYPD Officer Peter Liang Sentenced in Deadly Stairwell Shooting “I find that given the defendant’s background, and given how remorseful he is, it would not be necessary to incarcerate the defendant to have a just sentence in this case,” Chun said.21NAACP Legal Defense Fund. LDF on Peter Liang’s Sentence of No Prison Time
Thompson said his office would fight to reverse the judge’s reduction of the conviction.22Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Statement Regarding the Sentencing of Peter Liang In December 2016, Liang dropped his own appeal, effectively ending the criminal litigation.23ABC 7 New York. Appeal Dropped by Ex-NYPD Officer Peter Liang Liang and Landau were both fired from the NYPD. Landau, who was never criminally charged, was terminated on February 12, 2016, one day after the guilty verdict, at the discretion of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.24The New York Times. Police Department Fires Partner of Ex-Officer Peter Liang
The $4.5 Million Civil Settlement
Gurley’s family sued the City of New York, the New York City Housing Authority, and Liang for wrongful death. On August 15, 2016, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dawn Jimenez-Salta approved a settlement totaling roughly $4.5 million. The city paid $4.1 million, the Housing Authority paid $400,000, and Liang personally paid $25,000 to Kimberly Ballinger.25NBC News. New York City, Peter Liang to Pay $4.1 Million Settlement
The money was placed in a trust for Gurley’s daughter Akaila, with court approval required for withdrawals until she turned 18. Annuities within the trust were expected to yield roughly $10 million over her lifetime. Landau, originally named in the suit, was released and paid nothing. Gurley’s mother had a separate emotional-distress claim against the city, which the city moved to dismiss.6Courthouse News Service. City Reaches $4M Deal on Akai Gurley Killing
Protests, Race, and a National Debate
Gurley was killed weeks after Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner on Staten Island. His name entered the growing Black Lives Matter movement alongside Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, and Trayvon Martin, and around 200 people marched in Brooklyn in December 2014 to protest the shooting.1BlackPast. Gurley, Akai Kareem (1986-2014)26Stanford University Libraries. Akai Gurley – Say Their Names
Because Liang is Chinese American, the case also produced one of the largest Asian American political mobilizations in decades. After the February 2016 conviction, thousands rallied in cities across the country, with historian Erika Lee calling it the most significant mobilization of its kind since the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1982 killing of Vincent Chin.27NPR. Awoken by N.Y. Cop Shooting, Asian American Activists Chart Way Forward A major rally was held at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn on February 20, 2016, with simultaneous demonstrations in more than 40 other cities.28Asian American Writers’ Workshop. From Divided to United
Liang’s supporters, largely first-generation Chinese immigrants coordinating through WeChat, argued he had been made a scapegoat while white officers involved in Eric Garner’s death and other cases had escaped indictment entirely.29The New York Times. How Should Asian-Americans Feel About the Peter Liang Protests Some organizers pushed to acknowledge Gurley as a victim; slogans at the February rallies included “One tragedy, two victims” and “No Scapegoating,” and reportedly avoided pro-Liang signage.28Asian American Writers’ Workshop. From Divided to United
Black activists and other Asian American groups pushed back. Counter-protesters carried “Black Lives Matter” signs outside the Brooklyn courthouse during sentencing, and the Coalition Against Anti-Asian Violence opposed the pro-Liang movement.30NPR. Awoken by N.Y. Cop Shooting14The Guardian. Peter Liang, Akai Gurley Killing, and Asian American Response The NAACP Legal Defense Fund called the sentence evidence of “critical gaps in the training, supervision, and accountability of NYPD officers” and called for independent prosecutors in police-involved cases.31NAACP Legal Defense Fund. LDF on Peter Liang’s Sentence Delores Jones-Brown of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice described the outcome as reflecting “racial politics and scapegoating,” pointing to the contrast between Liang’s indictment and the grand jury’s failure to indict Daniel Pantaleo in Eric Garner’s death.32WNYC. Peter Liang Verdict and Sentence
Fallout Inside the NYPD
The trial testimony about the academy’s CPR instruction triggered an Internal Affairs Bureau investigation, which Bratton announced on February 23, 2016. “Under no circumstances will we tolerate any instructor in the New York City police department short-circuiting the process,” he said.12New York Post. Peter Liang’s CPR Instructor Stripped of Her Badge and Gun An officer in the academy’s recruit training section was stripped of her badge and gun and placed on desk duty. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association defended her, with president Patrick Lynch saying the union would “not allow one of our members to be scapegoated for an ineffective training program.”33NBC News. Police Academy Instructor Placed on Modified Duty
The Gurley family called on the NYPD to permanently end vertical patrols, and the Rev. Al Sharpton compared the practice to stop-and-frisk. Mayor Bill de Blasio defended vertical patrols as necessary for resident safety but said the department was providing officers with more training and support, without specifying what had changed.34DNAinfo. De Blasio Supports NYPD Vertical Patrols in Public Housing Despite Risks