Grand jury to review Akai Gurley shooting case in US

New York, Dec 6 (IANS/EFE) A grand jury will be convened to review a police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed black man last month, a New York prosecutor said Friday.

Akai Gurley, 28, died Nov 20 in an apartment building in the New York City borough of Brooklyn after being shot in the chest by police officer Peter Liang, who was patrolling the public housing complex along with another officer.

The case had been officially described as an accident.

The decision by Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson comes amid a storm over Wednesday's decision by a grand jury in New York City not to charge a white police officer for applying a chokehold while trying to detain Eric Garner, an African-American, for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, killing Garner in the process.

The medical examiner classified Garner's death as a homicide and said that the chokehold was a factor.

Friday's announcement also comes after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Both of those decisions had sparked widespread protests and the decision not to charge Wilson had prompted violent demonstrations in Ferguson last week.

"I expect to present evidence regarding the Nov 20 shooting of Akai Gurley to a grand jury because it is important to get to the bottom of what happened," Thompson said in a statement.

--IANS/EFE

ddb/