Trial date set for NYPD officer in Brooklyn stairwell shooting of Akai Gurley

NEW YORK -- NYPD officer Peter Liang was back in court Tuesday to face charges in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in a stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project.

The judge set a trial date for January 7 in the the death of Akai Gurley, while the defense indicated it would be a jury trial.

Gurley was with his girlfriend at the Louis Pink Houses in East New York last November when Liang fired into the darkened stairwell. Gurley was hit once and died at the scene.

Court papers released in June said Liang stood in the hallway arguing with his partner about who should call their supervisor to report the gunshot, unaware he had struck 28-year-old Gurley.

Prosecutors said Liang shouldn't have had his finger on the trigger of his gun, and that Liang didn't call an ambulance after Gurley was shot.

Liang has pleaded not guilty. His attorney claims the shooting was an accident.