UPDATE: Bodycam Footage Shows Rayshard Brooks Talking Politely To Officers Moments Before Being Killed
Outrage has sparked following the latest police shooting of a black man. As we previously reported, Rayshard Brooks, 27 was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in the parking lot of a Wendy’s off University Avenue Friday night.
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The shooting led to the abrupt resignation of Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields. Garrett Rolfe, identified as the officer who shot and killed Brooks, was fired Saturday night, just hours after Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for his immediate termination. The other officer involved in the call, Devin Bronsan, has been placed on administrative duty
Atlanta police have released to Channel 2 Action News the body camera footage from the shooting death of Brooks, who was a father of three. Investigators say the night started with police receiving calls about a man sleeping in a parked car in the fast-food restaurant’s drive-thru lane. In the body camera video, Officer Bronsan discovers Brooks in the car and knocks multiple times telling him to open the door.
While acknowledging the officer, Brooks tells him he was waiting on his sister and had not had much to drink. The officer then calls for backup for a DUI-certified officer. Minutes later, Officer Rolfe arrives at the scene. Body camera footage captures him asking Brooks a series of questions.
Brooks eventually admits to drinking. Rolfe asks again if he can do the test and Brooks agrees. In the footage, you can see Brooks speaking politely the majority of the time. However, things took a fatal turn following a struggle while trying to detain Brooks.
Surveillance video previously released captured the chase. As WSBTV reports, GBI Director Vic Reynolds said in a news conference Saturday afternoon that video corroborated that Brooks grabbed an officer’s Taser, ran a few feet away, and then pointed it at officers before he was shot. Despite that, Lawyers for Brooks’ family said that Tasers are not considered “deadly weapons” by police and that Brooks should not have been shot and killed.
Atlanta Mayor Bottoms also agreed that deadly use of force was not necessary and could have been handled differently.
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