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NYPD rookie calls fatal shooting of unarmed man an ‘accident’
NY Post ^ | November 21, 2014 | Jamie Schram, Lorena Mongelli and Danika Fears

Posted on 11/22/2014 9:25:06 PM PST by Slings and Arrows

A rookie cop working the most dangerous beat in the city killed a man in an unlit housing-project stairwell in Brooklyn — firing off an “accidental” shot that hit a young father in the chest, authorities said Friday.

“It was a pitch-black hallway,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said of the Thursday-night shooting at East New York’s Louis Pink Houses. “The deceased is a total innocent.”

-snip-

With his gun in his left hand and a flashlight in his right, Liang entered the stairwell at the same time Akai Gurley, 28, and his girlfriend, Melissa Butler, walked into the same stairwell on the seventh floor.

The stairs were dark because of a busted light that had been out for three weeks, and Liang was startled by the couple’s presence, sources said. He popped off one round, hitting Gurley in the chest from 10 to 12 feet away.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; US: New York
KEYWORDS: banglist; brooklyn; donutwatch; nypd; redhook
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To: GeronL

Yeah, pretty much. Every time, every dept.


41 posted on 11/23/2014 6:51:35 AM PST by Shimmer1 (Republican. Because we can't all be on welfare.)
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To: sagar

That’s absolutely a lie. You don’t pull your weapon as a cop unless you’re willing to use it. You don’t shoot unless there is probably cause. I haven’t heard of any probable cause yet. Do and should cops just shoot because it’s dark???


42 posted on 11/23/2014 6:53:12 AM PST by Shimmer1 (Republican. Because we can't all be on welfare.)
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To: sagar

Cop sacrificed. People like you make me sick. So maybe this guy was killed by a cop afraid of the dark and that’s all you have to say?


43 posted on 11/23/2014 6:54:59 AM PST by Shimmer1 (Conservative. Because we can't all be on welfare.)
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To: Blue Jays

I could not care less about his assorted relationships, in this case. Who cares?!


44 posted on 11/23/2014 6:57:50 AM PST by Shimmer1 (Conservative. Because we can't all be on welfare.)
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To: Blue Jays

That’s Williamsburg.


45 posted on 11/23/2014 7:00:06 AM PST by Ted Grant
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To: sagar; Alaska Wolf; DCBryan1; Slings and Arrows; Doomonyou; napscoordinator; Shimmer1; ...
JBT Ping list

Even this cop kept his finger off the trigger:

Despite the clearly lethal threat within arms length...

46 posted on 11/23/2014 7:41:43 AM PST by null and void (The better I know obama, the less I fear a president Biden.)
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To: null and void

Poor Elian.


47 posted on 11/23/2014 7:51:24 AM PST by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: Altariel

Yeah. The only illegal alien clinton didn’t adore.


48 posted on 11/23/2014 7:54:13 AM PST by null and void (The better I know obama, the less I fear a president Biden.)
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To: Steamburg

> Notice that this being a Rat city in the North, there’s no big DOJ organized protest.

“The issue is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.”
—David Horowitz, quoting unnamed SDS leader.


49 posted on 11/23/2014 11:06:52 AM PST by Slings and Arrows ("I Only Love You When I'm Drunk" - http://youtu.be/uT-tCbvfDUg)
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To: Slings and Arrows

THIS is their attitudes about the value of our lives. This is not an accident, it was a deliberate choice to let unreasoned fear control his actions.

The standard for deadly force is REASONABLE fear, not “I’m peeing my pants at my own shadow.”

If you can’t handle fear, don’t be a cop. They claim to be a profession, but want unprofessional standards regarding mistakes.

These cops need a lesson that there are limits to how incompetent they can be and still walk from it. This is plain not acceptable, and neither is their dismissive attitude to mistakes.

Cops need to be afraid of mistakes, and they aren’t.


50 posted on 11/29/2014 2:29:00 PM PST by LevinFan
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To: sagar

“This was a cop, so finger on the trigger is part of the job description, especially in the high crime neighborhood. Of course, the lynchmob wants some blood, so the cop might get sacrificed.”

Very few cops fall to violence. This is not an acceptable way to handle his fear. They exist to protect the innocent, not sacrifice the innocent to protect themselves.

He should go down for this. It was wrong, it was cowardly, and it was irresponsible. There has to be limits to how much is forgiven. And this was well past that point.

We aren’t a flipping lynchmob. We are the citizens of this nation, who expect equal protection under the law, and equal responsibility under the law too. Our lives matter as much as the cop. More so, as their position exists to protect our lives. He is PAID to take risks. Now was this much risk.

We have a good reason to be angry, and to expect him to pay.


51 posted on 11/29/2014 2:35:26 PM PST by LevinFan
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To: LevinFan

Agreed. I still have a horrible suspicion that nothing worse than being fired will happen to the cop.


52 posted on 11/29/2014 7:57:04 PM PST by Slings and Arrows ("I Only Love You When I'm Drunk" - http://youtu.be/uT-tCbvfDUg)
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To: Slings and Arrows

“Agreed. I still have a horrible suspicion that nothing worse than being fired will happen to the cop.”

No, he’ll be allowed to resign, so it won’t be held against him at the next PD. All the worst cops go through departments like burger joints.

And then they all wonder why people made jokes about hoping it took the cops a while to catch Dorner and that PA nut.


53 posted on 11/29/2014 9:20:19 PM PST by LevinFan
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To: Slings and Arrows

Uh-huh. Are we supposed to believe that officers don’t hear about the Four Rules of Gun Safety in the police academy now?

Not buying it.

1. Treat firearms as if they are loaded
2. Point the muzzle away from non-targets
3. Keep fingers off the trigger
4. Be sure of your target and of what is beyond it


54 posted on 11/30/2014 8:21:12 PM PST by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: sagar

He’s a government employee, therefore he’s justified in violating the basic rules of gun safety?

Would you be singing the same tune if another officer was downed by “friendly fire” because of his foolishness?


55 posted on 11/30/2014 8:26:20 PM PST by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: Altariel

Grey’s Law: “Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.”

[This does not excuse Officer Shooty in any way.]


56 posted on 11/30/2014 8:40:04 PM PST by Slings and Arrows ("I Only Love You When I'm Drunk" - http://youtu.be/uT-tCbvfDUg)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Also true.


57 posted on 12/01/2014 5:15:40 PM PST by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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