REPORT:
A female and her boyfriend, 28-years-old, entered the stairwell of a residential building at the seventh. Above them by fourteen steps were two officers that also entered the stairwell, with one officer having his weapon drawn with a flashlight in his other hand. The stairwell was poorly lit and noted as nearly "pitch black" when inside of it. The officer with the drawn weapon shot into the darkness, causing a bullet to ricochet off of the wall and strike the 28-year-old male in the chest, resulting in his death. The officer reports that the shooting was an accident. Neither officers provided life-saving measures for the 28-year-old male after the shooting occurred, though the girlfriend did perform CPR. Both officers radioed for medical services separately. This event only lasted a few minutes.
INVESTIGATION:
With initial reports stating that the officer shot his weapon accidentally, resulting in he death of the 28-year-old male, an investigation was done into the weapon that issued the fatal shot. There was also a security video tape that was reviewed to better determine if a grand jury would indict the officer for further charges. The officer that shot the firearm maintained that he was startled and did not intentionally fire the weapon. It is noted that both officers reported feeling unqualified to provide CPR and other life-saving measures for the 28-year-old male.
RESULTS:
After reviewing the security footage and findings about the way the gun operates, it was decided that the officer would be indicted for further charges three months after the crime was committed. Initially, the officer was found guilty of manslaughter and official misconduct, but when the decision was later appealed, the convictions were downgraded to criminally negligent homicide. The officer could have serviced up to 15 years in jail with the initial crimes, however the lower grade conviction allowed for the officer's council to request probation and community service instead. This was awarded and the office was given 5 years of probation with 800 hours of community service as the final consequence of the shooting. The other officer present was also fired from his precinct as the result of these events.DISCLAIMER: The events described are actually the events that occurred resulting in the death of Akai Jackson. He was killed by Peter Liang, whose charges were downgraded resulting in zero jail time.
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