David Luces
Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The family of Jamie Liang, a former Concord woman who was fatally shot by a Staten Island NYPD officer last October in a love triangle dispute, has filed a wrongful death suit against the NYPD for not taking the officer’s gun away before the deadly incident, according to a report.
Off-duty NYPD Officer Yvonne Wu has been charged with murder and attempted murder for wounding ex-girlfriend Jenny Li, 23, and killing Liang, 24, at Li’s Brooklyn apartment on Oct. 13, 2021.
The victim’s family filed suit in Brooklyn Supreme Court against the city and Wu, claiming the NYPD knew Wu, “was psychologically unfit and a danger to others, yet did not require her to give up possession of her service revolver,” according to court documents obtained by the New York Post on Monday.
Wu has been behind bars since her arrest, and is suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case, the report says.
At a Nov. 18 arraignment, Wu pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder charges, according to the New York Post.
“What this family wants is for change in the police department, so that a police officer who’s suffering emotional illness — like this one was — will not be permitted to carry a gun,” Sanford Rubenstein, the plaintiff lawyer, told The Post.
Detectives believe the officer was inside the home when the two victims arrived. Responding officers found Liang, who suffered at least one gunshot wound to her chest, lying in the living room area and Li, who was shot in the torso, lying on the floor in the bedroom, the Advance previously reported.
“Our hearts go out to the families who suffered terribly from a tragedy that left one person dead and another seriously wounded,” a spokesman with the city Law Department told the Post. “The case is under investigation by both the office of the New York State Attorney General and NYPD.”
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