By Tina Susman and Lauren Raab, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

NEW YORK — A New York City police officer will face charges for fatally shooting an unarmed man, Akai Gurley, in the dark stairwell of a Brooklyn public housing development in November, an attorney confirmed Tuesday.

Scott Rynecki, a lawyer who has represented the mother of Gurley’s 2-year-old daughter, said Tuesday that he has been “advised there will be an arraignment tomorrow.”

Officer Peter Liang killed 28-year-old Gurley the night of Nov. 20 while conducting floor-by-floor sweeps of the housing development.

The next day, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton called the shooting an “unfortunate tragedy” and said radio transmissions from the scene indicated Liang had fired his gun accidentally.

“It appears to be an accidental discharge, with no intention to strike anybody,” Bratton told reporters.
___

(Susman reported from New York and Raab from Los Angeles.)

Photo via Wikimedia Commons