The Brooklyn District Attorney will convene a grand jury to investigate the death of Akai Gurley, who was shot to death last month by a New York City police officer in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project, NBC News 4 reported.
A spokeswoman for Brooklyn D.A. Ken Thompson declined to comment to msnbc, saying a statement would be forthcoming.
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The report comes two days after news that a Staten Island grand jury won’t indict a different New York City police officer in connection with the death of Eric Garner, which set off protests around the city and country.
Thompson, who was elected last year after pledging to help rein in police harassment of minorities, has been investigating the Gurley shooting since soon after it happened. He said last month that the shooting is “deeply troubling and warrants an immediate, fair and thorough investigation.” Gurley, 28, was shot by NYPD officer Peter Liang while walking with his girlfriend down the stairs of the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has called Gurley a “total innocent.” Liang had been on the force less than 18 months at the time of the shooting and has been placed on modified assignment. He has also been relived of his badge and gun. “I need justice for my son,” Gurley’s mother, Sylvia Palmer, said at a Friday news conference. “I want my son to rest in peace with the respect he deserved,” a weepy Palmer said. “It’s like I feel like I’m lying in the morgue with him right now. I need my son back.”
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