Cop Arraigned for Shooting Her Girlfriend

Ekeythia Dunston, the New York City police officer accused of shooting her girlfriend in a domestic dispute last summer, said at her arraignment Wednesday that the two had fought and struggled over her weapon.

DNA Info reports that "Ekeythia Dunston was arraigned on attempted murder and assault charges in Manhattan Supreme Court after an incident at her Harlem home in which she is accused of shooting girlfriend Erica LeGall, 42, in the shoulder and in the thigh."

The incident was sparked early one morning in August when Dunston, 32, received a text message from another woman around 3 a.m., according to an earlier account in the New York Daily News. The couple fought with their two young sons and babysitter in the vicinity.

LeGall, who required surgery for her injuries, also was arraigned on assault charges following the incident. Prosecutors alleged she hit Dunston, a veteran of NYPD for eight years, over the head with an iron prior to the shooting, according to DNA Info.

The attorney for Dunston, who was suspended from NYPD without pay, said his client acted in self-defense.