Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed New York officials are investigating a gunshot fired by a police officer as the NYPD was called in to clear pro-Palestinian protestors from a university building on the Columbia campus Tuesday night, TheCity reports.
No one was injured by the shot, and the weapon was not aimed at anyone when it was discharged, according to officials. Officials said the officer’s gun discharged while police were in a different part of the building from the demonstrators and the shot did not appear to be intentional.
Likely started by “flash-bang” grenades used by officers, reports of gunshots spread through the crowd that had gathered to watch the NYPD raid the building as the raid on Tuesday night, but later, individuals reported hearing a single gunshot. The fact that an officer fired his gun had not been confirmed until Bragg’s statement.