Police charged with shooting dead black man

Phuong Vu• June 18, 2020 07:42

Garrett Rolfe, the police officer who shot and killed black man Rayshards Brooks in Atlanta on June 12, was charged with murder.

Fulton County Prosecutor Paul Howard said in Atlanta on June 17 that police officer Garrett Rolfe had no reason to shoot Rayshard Brooks as he fled. What's more, the officer kicked Brooks as he lay on the ground after being shot. Howard said Rolfe and his colleague Devin Brosnan violated multiple police department policies.

“We concluded that at the time Brooks was shot, he did not pose a threat of death or serious injury to officers,” Howard said.

Garrett Rolfe (trái) và Devin Brosnan. Ảnh: APD. — *Garrett Rolfe (left) and Devin Brosnan. Photo: APD.*

Rolfe faces 11 charges including felony murder (killing someone in the course of committing another serious crime), aggravated assault and violating police regulations. Rolfe faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

Devin Brosnan, Rolfe's colleague, was charged with aggravated assault and breach of police regulations.

Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot and killed in an Atlanta parking lot on the evening of June 12. Brooks fell asleep in his car while waiting in line at a nearby fast food restaurant. The Atlanta Police Department said the young man resisted officers after failing a field sobriety test, designed to determine whether a driver had consumed alcohol, beer or stimulants.

Video taken by witnesses at the scene shows Brooks struggling with two officers, grabbing the stun gun from one officer's hand and punching him in the face. Footage from a nearby security camera shows two officers chasing Brooks through a parking lot, with the young man appearing to point the stun gun at one of the officers. The two officers draw their guns and Brooks is shot.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office reported that Brooks died of internal injuries and blood loss from two gunshot wounds. An autopsy performed on June 14 listed Brooks' cause of death as a gunshot wound to the back and the act that led to his death as "homicide."

Brooks' shooting occurred amid protests across the United States and many countries following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was pinned down by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.