The Atlanta officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks has been fired

(Image credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

last updated 14 June 2020

Shortly after Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned from the role Saturday evening, the department announced early Sunday that the police officer who fatally shot a black man Friday evening has been fired.

The officer, Garrett Rolfe, shot and killed 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy's parking lot, where Brooks had been found asleep in his parked car in the drive-thru. After officers woke Brooks, he failed a sobriety test. Video then shows Rolfe, along with his fellow officer Devin Brosnan — who has been placed on administrative leave — struggling with Brooks, who grabbed one of the officer's tasers and appeared to point it at them after running away. Shots are heard on the video, but the footage did not capture Rolfe drawing his weapon and firing, shooting Brooks, The Associated Press reports.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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