NYPD cop to be indicted for shooting death of unarmed man Akai Gurley

NEW YORK -- A New York City prosecutor is expected to announce criminal charges on Wednesday against a rookie police officer for the fatal shooting of an unarmed man while patrolling the darkened stairwell of a housing project last November.

Peter Liang, the officer, was patrolling with his partner in the Brooklyn housing project around 11:15 p.m. on Nov. 20 when his gun discharged a single bullet, killing Akai Gurley, 28, who was in the stairwell a flight below with his girlfriend. Whether Liang's gun went off by mistake or was fired deliberately is likely the most disputed aspect of the shooting.

Several city news outlets reported that a grand jury had voted to indict Liang on Tuesday on charges that include manslaughter and negligent homicide.

Kenneth Thompson, the district attorney in Brooklyn who oversaw the secret grand jury proceedings, has declined to comment, but his office drew reporters' attention to a particular arraignment due to take place on Wednesday afternoon, after which Thompson will address a news conference.

Liang's arraignment would come two months after another grand jury in the city borough of Staten Island voted against indicting one of the police officers who killed Eric Garner, an unarmed black man being arrested for peddling loose cigarettes, by putting Garner in a chokehold.

The lack of an indictment sparked a new round of large rallies in the city by protesters who say police are too quick to use violence against black citizens.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has angered much of his police department by his expressions of support for some of the protests, has said Gurley's was an "unspeakable" tragedy.