Family of NYPD shooting victim Akai Gurley files lawsuit against city

The family of Akai Gurley, the unarmed man who was shot and killed by a New York Police Department officer, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, reports the New York Times.

Akai Gurley was fatally shot by officer Peter Liang in November 2014 as he walked in a Brooklyn housing-project staircase.

Gurley and his girlfriend were walking in the housing project staircase when Liang, who was on patrol with his partner, fired one deadly shot at Gurley’s chest. Liang had only been on the job 18 months when the shooting occurred.

Family of Akai Gurley Files Lawsuit

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, names the police officer, Peter Liang, who shot Mr. Gurley; the officer’s partner at the time, Shaun Landau; and the New York City Housing Authority, which runs the city’s housing projects.

Kimberly Ballinger, the domestic partner of Mr. Gurley, brought the lawsuit on behalf of his estate and of their 2-year-old daughter, Akaila Gurley.

New York Times reports:

The lawsuit claims that the Housing Authority “created a hazardous and traplike condition” by failing to provide adequate lighting in the staircases, and also charges that the officers did not perform or request medical aid after the shooting.

Officer Liang was indicted in February on several charges, including second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.