Ga. cop fired after killing of black man

ATLANTA — One minute, Rayshard Brooks was chatting cooperatively with Atlanta police, saying he’d had a couple of drinks to celebrate his daughter’s birthday and agreeing to a breath test. The next, they were wrestling on the ground and grappling over a Taser before Mr. Brooks took the weapon and ran.

Seconds later, three gunshots sounded, and Mr. Brooks fell mortally wounded.

Atlanta police video released Sunday showing a seemingly routine sobriety check outside a Wendy’s restaurant that quickly spun out of control, ending in gunfire. The killing of the 27-year-old black man in an encounter with two white officers late Friday rekindled fiery protests in Atlanta and prompted the police chief’s resignation.

Police said Sunday the department had fired Officer Garrett Rolfe, who fired the fatal shots, while Officer Devin Brosnan had been placed on administrative duty. Mr. Rolfe had worked for the department since October 2013, and Officer Brosnan has since September 2018.

Meanwhile, authorities announced a $10,000 reward for information finding those responsible for setting fire to the Wendy’s at the shooting scene. Flames gutted the restaurant late Saturday after demonstrations grew turbulent. Police said those protests prompted 36 arrests.

More than 100 people, some sporting umbrellas and rain gear after on-and-off rain, protested peacefully at the site Sunday evening. Police blocked some side streets, slowing traffic in the area as people held up signs.

The two officers’ body cameras and the dash-mounted cameras in their patrol cars showed they spent

more than 40 minutes peacefully questioning Mr. Brooks. The fighting erupted when they tried to handcuff Mr. Brooks.

Andy Harvey, chief of police of Ennis, Texas, who has written books and developed training on community policing, said such moments can turn “in just a split second.”

“The moment you put your hands on someone is when someone will decide whether to comply or resist,” Chief Harvey said. “That’s what happened in Atlanta.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating and will present its findings to prosecutors, who will decide whether either officer will face criminal charges.

The officers were called late Friday over complaints of a car blocking the restaurant’s drive-thru lane. Officer Brosnan arrived first and found Mr. Brooks alone in the car, apparently asleep. Mr. Brooks agreed to move the car and showed his driver’s license. Mr. Rolfe arrived minutes later to conduct a sobriety check.

“I know you’re just doing your job,” Mr. Brooks says on the video after consenting to a breath test. He mentions celebrating his daughter’s birthday and says: ”I just had a few drinks, that’s all.”

Mr. Rolfe doesn’t tell Mr. Brooks the results, though his body camera recorded a digital readout of 0.108 — higher than the blood alcohol content of 0.08 grams considered too intoxicated to drive under Georgia law.

“All right, I think you’ve had too much to drink to be driving,” Mr. Rolfe tells Mr. Brooks. “Put your hands behind your back.”

The video shows each officer take hold of one of Mr. Brooks’ wrists as Mr. Rolfe tries to handcuff him. Mr. Brooks tries to run, and the officers take him to the ground.

“Stop fighting!” one officer yells.

One of the dash cameras recorded the brawl. As Mr. Brooks fights to stand, Officer Brosnan presses a Taser to his leg and threatens to stun him. Mr. Brooks grabs the Taser and pulls it away. He struggles to his feet, the Taser in his hand, and starts running.

Mr. Rolfe fires his Taser, and a yelp can be heard above the weapon’s electric crackle. Mr. Rolfe runs after Mr. Brooks, and seconds later, three gunshots sound.

Both officers’ body cameras were knocked to the ground in the struggle, and none of the four police cameras captured the shooting. Footage released from a Wendy’s security camera showed Mr. Brooks turn and point an object in his hand at one of the officers steps behind him. The officer draws his gun and fires.

“As I pursued him, he turned and started firing the Taser at me,” Mr. Rolfe told a supervisor after the shooting in a videotaped conversation. “... He definitely did shoot it at me at least once.”

GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said Sunday she could not confirm whether Mr. Brooks fired the Taser.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Saturday she doesn’t believe the shooting was justified. Police Chief Erika Shields, who joined the department as a beat officer in 1995, has resigned.

Mr. Brooks’ death at the hands of police inflamed raw emotions in Atlanta and across the U.S. following the May 25 police custody killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Some public officials questioned Sunday whether shooting of Mr. Brooks was as clearly an abuse as Floyd’s death after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck for nearly nine minutes.