Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot dead by an officer Friday night at a Wendy’s drive-through in the city. The officers showed up due to an altercation on Friday night. Surveillance video and bystander video from the scene show that Brooks took an officer’s Taser during an attempted arrest and then fired the Taser at the officers as he ran away. One officer then shot Brooks with his service weapon, instead of using a non deadly weapon to stop and detain Brooks.
The killing, in the midst of nationwide protests calling to end racism and police violence against black people, had rapid repercussions. The officer has been fired and the police chief has resigned.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke out on the incident stating she did not believe this was a justified use of deadly force.
“While there may be debate as to whether this was an appropriate use of deadly force, I firmly believe that there is a distinction between what you can do and what you should do,” Bottoms said Saturday.
Bottoms also said that Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields, who has led the police since 2016, was stepping down.
“I have faith in the mayor, and it is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” Shields said in a statement.
According to police spokesman Carlos Campos, The officer who killed Brooks was terminated Saturday. The officers involved have been identified by police as Garrett Rolfe and Devin Bronsan. Devin Bronsan is responsible for Rayshard Brooks death. Bronsan has also only been with the police force since 2018.
Protestors gathered around the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was murdered. As protests against police violence have been intense, the results led to an angry crowd setting the Wendy’s on fire. At least 36 people were arrested during the protests.
“I was very disturbed with what happened,” protester Marquavian Odom told CNN. “This is something that keeps happening over and over again. We’ve been protesting about George Floyd and I thought there was going to be a change, but there wasn’t a change, it was still the same old thing.”
“I thought the message was clear, but obviously we’re still not heard.”
