Police Brutality / Individual record
Akai Gurley
Unarmed Akai Gurley, 28, died after a bullet fired by NYPD officer Peter Liang ricocheted into him in a dark Brooklyn public-housing stairwell in November 2014.
- Record ID
- PB-075
- Incident date
- November 20, 2014
- Date of death
- November 20, 2014
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
Akai Gurley and his girlfriend entered a poorly lit stairwell at the Pink Houses in Brooklyn on November 20, 2014 while officer Peter Liang and his partner were on patrol. Liang drew his gun and fired after being startled, and the bullet ricocheted off a wall before striking Gurley. Gurley was not suspected of a crime and carried no weapon. Prosecutors argued the officer had fired recklessly and failed to give immediate help to the dying man. The case focused public attention on dangerous armed patrol tactics in public housing, limited emergency response after police shootings, and differing standards of accountability.
Investigation & findings
A jury convicted Liang of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct in February 2016; at sentencing the judge reduced the manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide and imposed five years of probation and community service. The final disposition must reflect the reduction rather than leaving the initial verdict alone.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source