Emotional NYC officer testifies on fatal stairwell shooting

NEW YORK (AP) — When rookie police Officer Peter Liang fired his gun in a pitch-dark public housing stairwell, he at first thought he had hurt nothing but his career.

[...] prosecutors and Gurley's loved ones say Liang handled his weapon recklessly and did nearly nothing to help Gurley after realizing the bullet had hit someone.

"Peter Liang walked away and left Akai to die in his own blood," Gurley's mother, Sylvia Palmer, said outside court after hearing the officer give an account she felt showed no remorse.

Fearing he would lose his job, he bickered with his partner about which one would phone their sergeant privately rather than radioing in a report Liang said he felt would bring an "unnecessary" response and pull other officers from their posts.

While his police training included CPR, he said instructors had given cadets most of the answers to pass the required test, echoing testimony his partner gave last week.

Liang's testimony came four days after two other New York City officers were shot and wounded while on stairwell patrol in a different public housing complex.