By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — An NYPD cop accused of shooting her girlfriend in an argument last summer told officers responding to the domestic dispute that the couple had fought and struggled over her weapon.
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.
"She’s my domestic partner," Dunston, an 8-year NYPD veteran told one of the officers responding to the shooting on Aug. 9, according to newly-released court documents.
"We had a fight and struggled over my weapon and she got shot."
Dunston later told prosecutors that she had no recollection of the shooting, though she did identify herself as the shooter, the documents said.
LeGall, who underwent surgery for her injuries, was also arraigned on assault charges in the weeks following the incident. Prosecutors claimed she hit Dunston over the head with an iron before the shooting, which occurred at 60 West 128th Street.
Duston’s lawyer, Edgar De Leon, has defended his client’s actions as self-defense, saying that it was a "justified shooting."
LeGall’s 7-year-old son, Duston’s 13-year-old son and a 32-year-old babysitter were all in the Harlem apartment when the shooting occurred, according to police.
