Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man was shot and killed back Atlanta police officers after receiving a call of a man sleeping in his car in a Wendy’s drive-thru.
Since his tragic murder, the city of Atlanta has taken action. The police officer, Garrett Rolfe, who fired the fatal shots in Brooks’ back was terminated. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms stated that she doesn’t believe that Brooks’ death was justified.
“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.”
During the press conference, Mayor Bottoms also announced that Erika Shields, Atlanta’s Police Chief was stepping down.
Shields later addressed the announcement in a statement. “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.”
As Rolfe was terminated, his partner, Devin Brosnan was placed on administrative duty.
Brooks was a father of three daughters, ages 1, 2, and 8 years-old. A video shows that Brooks and the two officers were speaking for nearly 30 minutes before he was shot and killed.
According to reports, the shooting of Brooks enraged the citizens of Atlanta. The same Wendy’s where the shooting took place was burned to the ground and a major interstate was shut down by protestors.
The Wendy’s where #RayshardBrooks was fatally shot in the parking lot last night is now in flames. Photos from Ben Gray pic.twitter.com/dfvibL5JcC
— Jennifer Brett (@Jennifer__Brett) June 14, 2020
During the protest, one of the protestors said, “I just want to make enough noise that they investigate the situation.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is currently investigating the murder and it will be turned over to prosecutors once the investigation is completed.