Amid the growing number of protests for the Black Lives Matter movement that had surfaced after the death of George Floyd, another black individual, Rayshard Brooks, died after an encounter with a police officer in Atlanta.
A tragic revelation
The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Officer released a statement revealing Brooks had two gunshot wounds on his back, which resulted in organ damage and blood loss, as reported by CNN. Medical officials who conducted the autopsy ruled Brooks' death as another homicide.
Paul Howard, the district attorney for Fulton County, wrote in a statement that members of his staff had the unfortunate responsibility of bearing witness to Brooks' autopsy as part of the ongoing investigation of the black man's death, according to WSBTV.
Howard criticized the police officer's actions and response during the encounter with Brooks that happened on Friday in Atlanta. It also stated that the decision of whether or not to charge the officer would be determined on Sunday.
Paul Howard, the district attorney, said that Brooks' did not look to pose any sort of threat and that the escalation of the incident that led to his tragic death was disturbing. He added that the conversation the parties involved had was not the kind to have resulted in a fatal shooting.
Authorities have fired Garrett Rolfe, the police officer who shot Brooks and Howard stated that charges against Rolfe will be determined by Wednesday next week.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, shared her thoughts of how the use of excessive force in the encounter was not justified.
The aftermath of the incident
After Rolfe was fired, the second officer involved in the incident, Devin Brosnan, has been placed on administrative duty.
Howard noted that the main question is if officer Rolfe felt that Brooks presented a probable threat at the time or if the police officer simply used his firearm to take Brooks into custody or for some other reason.
“If that shot was fired for some reason other than to save that officer’s life or to prevent injury to him or others, then that shooting is not justified under the law,” Howard added.
Atlanta police officers shot 27-year-old Rashard Brooks at Wendy’s restaurant on suspicion of Driving Under Influence (DUI). Rolfe claims that Brooks allegedly took hold of the officer’s taser.
According to The New York Times, Brosnan responded to call and arrived at a Wendy’s restaurant in South Atlanta. The officer found Brooks sleeping inside his vehicle which was parked in the drive-through.
Unsure of what action to take, Brosnan requests for another officer on the scene. After Rolfe arrives, he performs preliminary checks to see if Brooks was drunk.
After continued talks, the incident escalates after Rolfe begins to handcuff Brooks as the black man is shown to be fighting back. Brooks later grabs one of the officers’ tasers, punches Rolfe in the face, and flees.
While running, Brooks attempts to shoot the taser at the officers pursuing him, where they respond by taking up their firearm and hitting Brooks on his back.
