Officer charged with murder in Rayshard Brooks shooting

Former Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe will face felony murder and 10 other charges after shooting and killing a man fleeing arrest in the back, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced on Wednesday. Prosecutors are charging Officer Devin Brosnan, who was also present, with aggravated assault and other crimes. The Atlanta Police Department already fired Rolfe and placed Brosnan on administrative leave.

What led to the charges? The two officers, who are white, responded to a call on Friday night after Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old African American man, fell asleep in his car blocking a Wendy’s drive-thru lane. Video evidence shows the two officers questioned Brooks for more than 40 minutes and gave him a field sobriety test, which he failed. When Rolfe attempted to arrest Brooks by handcuffing him, he struggled, and the altercation escalated. Brooks then grabbed Brosnan’s stun gun and ran away. When Brooks appeared to fire the stun gun at the officers, Rolfe shot him. Howard said Rolfe then kicked Brooks while he was on the ground, and Brosnan stood on his shoulder before he died.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about the debate on Capitol Hill over the best way to reform policing practices.