A report claims that the NYPD officer who shot and killed Akai Gurley inside of a Brooklyn housing complex last month texted his union rep before he called for help. Gurley, 28, died after rookie police officer Peter Liang accidentally discharged his weapon in a stairwell.
Liang and his partner, Shaun Landau, were in the midst of a "vertical patrol" inside of East New York's Pink Houses when Gurley entered stairwell. According to the New York Daily News, Liang sent the text message while Gurley lay dying. Worse, it wasn't until neighbors called 911 that authorities learned about the incident:
In the critical moments after the Nov. 20 shooting, the cops’ commanding officer and an emergency operator — responding to a 911 call from a neighbor and knowing the duo was in the area — tried to reach them in vain, sources said.
That’s showing negligence, said a law enforcement source of the pair’s decision to text their union rep before making a radio call for help.
To make matters worse, the Daily News adds that the texts revealed that the officers didn't even know the Pink Houses' specific address.
Gurley's death has been ruled a homicide. The NYPD's Internal Affairs division is conducting an investigation, as is the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.
[via New York Daily News]
