The off-duty officer who allegedly shot two women, killing one of them, in an apparent Brooklyn love triangle on Wednesday afternoon remained hospitalized under evaluation, with charges against her pending.
Law enforcement sources said the 31-year-old officer, identified in published reports as Yvonne Wu, allegedly shot her 23-year-old girlfriend and a 24-year-old woman — Jamie Liang, of East 20th Street in Manhattan — inside her gal pal’s residence in the vicinity of 19th Avenue and 79th Street in Bensonhurst just before 5 p.m. on Oct. 13.
Police officials said Wu calmly confessed outside the residence to members of the 62nd Precinct after they arrived there in response to several 911 calls.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office reported that the case is now in the hands of the state Attorney General’s office because it involves a police officer. But a spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James said only that the case was under review.
“This horrific incident is being treated as a homicide case,” said Assistant Chief Michael Kemper, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, during a press conference Wednesday night. “The motive is believed to be domestic in nature.”
Based on a preliminary investigation, Kemper said, detectives determined that Wu — a 5 1/2-year NYPD veteran assigned to a south Brooklyn precinct — got into her girlfriend’s apartment just before she and Liang arrived there on Wednesday afternoon.
Police are currently investigating whether Wu’s girlfriend and Liang had been in an intimate relationship of their own.
Emergency services received no fewer than three 911 calls about shots fired at the location just before 5 p.m. on Oct. 13. Kemper said Wu met with 62nd Precinct cops as they arrived on the scene; she was “calm, collected and very forth-coming,” the chief noted.
Upon entering the apartment, Kemper reported, the responding officers found Liang with a gunshot wound to her chest in the living room, and Wu’s girlfriend in the bedroom with a bullet wound to her torso. Cops quickly called for EMS and began administering CPR on the victims, the chief said.
It’s not clear as of yet how many shots Wu fired, or whether she had used her service-issued weapon, Kemper noted.
EMS rushed both victims to Maimonides Hospital, where Liang died. Kemper said Wu’s girlfriend is expected to make a recovery.
The NYPD Force Investigation Division, which examines police shootings, “has a lead on the case” and is working with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office on the matter, Kemper added.
