Asian-American police officer made a scapegoat for fatal shooting inspires film that shines a critical light on US race relations
- In 2014 a Hong Kong-born NYPD officer, Peter Liang, pulled his gun while on patrol, and accidentally shot dead African-American Akai Gurley
- His case inspired A Shot Through the Wall, about an Asian-American officer made a fall guy for such a killing, which examines ties between minorities in the US
A fast chase, a sudden noise, a handgun drawn, and a man dying on a kitchen floor. In a matter of moments, two rookie cops have gone from eating slices of pizza on the street to chasing a suspect through a housing complex before one of them, Officer Mike Tan, played by Kenny Leu, accidentally shoots an innocent bystander.
These gripping scenes unfold in the first few minutes of Chinese-American director Aimee Long’s debut crime drama, A Shot Through the Wall – a testament to how fast things can go wrong and a life can end.
“Lucky for you, this one is pretty clear cut: it’s hard to prove intent when you shoot someone through a wall,” Tan is told by police union representative Ritchie Barrett, played by Dan Lauria. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back on the street before you know it,” he adds.
But the case takes a sharp turn a week later when Tan becomes the first New York Police Department (NYPD) officer in over a decade to be indicted for an on-duty shooting. He later stands trial on manslaughter charges.
The gut-wrenching opening of Long’s film, which premiered at the Bentonville Film Festival in the US state of Arkansas in August, isn’t just a clever storyline; the plot was inspired by real events.
On November 20, 2014, a Hong Kong-born NYPD officer, Peter Liang, fatally shot African-American Akai Gurley while on patrol with his partner Shaun Landau in Brooklyn, New York.
