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Joseph Gray reacts to a lone protester at Monday's news conference.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Brooklyn police officer charged with fatally plowing into a pregnant woman, her 4-year-old son and her teen-age sister expressed sorrow for the tragedy, but his news conference Monday was interrupted by an angry protester who denounced him as a "drunk killer cop."

Flanked by his wife and attorney, Officer Joseph Gray -- who has been indicted on three counts of manslaughter -- said he had been unfairly described in the media.

Police said blood tests showed Gray had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood following the accident earlier this month. Gray's van struck the family after he allegedly ran a red light following a visit to an "off-limits" topless bar where he had been drinking with fellow officers. Gray was off duty but on his way to work at the time.

Maria Herrera, her son, Andy, 4, and her sister, Dilcia Pena, 16, were killed as they were crossing a street in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn. Herrera's unborn child was delivered in an emergency Caesarean section after the accident but later died.

"I'm not this mindless drunk that was being portrayed in the media. It really hurt me," Gray said.

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Later Monday, attorney Johnnie Cochran, who said he is representing the family of Dilcia Pena, told CNN he has already filed a claim -- a precursor of a wrongful death civil suit -- with the city of New York.

"It alleges that there was negligence, gross negligence really, on the part of this officer Gray and on the part of the supervisors who failed to reign him in if they knew or should have known about his proclivity and propensity to drink," Cochran said.

As Gray was answering reporters' questions, a man who later identified himself as David Galarza, a friend of the Herrera family, burst into the news conference.

"You're a police officer. You're a murderer!" he shouted. He held a sign that read "No bail for drunk killer cop" and began chanting the same phrase. "Have you no decency? You killed four people."

Gray appeared shaken by the outburst, looking down and massaging his eyes with his hand. His wife, Diana, appeared to try to comfort him.

"This is over, thank you," pronounced Harold Levy, Gray's attorney.

Earlier, Gray offered "my sincerest condolences" to the Herrera family, but he also portrayed himself as something of a victim.

A sign-holding Galarza confronts Gray on Monday.

"It's been an absolute nightmare," he said. "I can't begin to describe how terrible this has made me feel, and what it's done to my family."

He is free on $250,000 bail.

Gray said he accepted the fact that his career as an officer is over, but he faulted police for their handling of the matter. "I feel they've overreacted in this case," he said.

In the wake of the investigation into the deadly incident, 17 officers were disciplined for department drinking violations or for failing to properly supervise the officers.

-- CNN Correspondent Jason Carroll and Producer Phil Hirschkorn contributed to this report.