“On June 12, one of our biggest fears became our reality,” Brooks’ niece Chassidy Evans said after the shooting. “Not only did we lose another Black, unarmed male. This time it landed on our front doorstep.”
Howard alleged that after the shooting Rolfe kicked Brooks, and another officer involved in the encounter, Devin Brosnan, stood on top of him. An attorney for Rolfe later denied his client kicked Brooks.
Rolfe’s attorney Lance LoRusso declined to comment ahead of the special prosecutor’s Tuesday afternoon press conference. CNN has left a message with Brosnan’s attorney Donald Samuel.
“I think that’s ridiculous,” Howard told CNN when asked about the claim. He said the case would be his office’s 40th case charging a police officer, nine of which involved the death of someone by police.
“I and my agency will conduct a thorough review of the facts and circumstances surrounding this case and, as with any case that comes before us, we will proceed where the evidence leads us,” Skandalakis said at the time.
Rolfe’s attorneys have previously maintained the cop was legally justified and acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Brooks. In May 2021, the Atlanta Civil Service Board ruled that Rolfe was wrongly terminated and reinstated him. The APD at the time said the board’s decision said the firing process was “not done in accordance with the Atlanta City Code” and Rolfe would remain on administrative leave until the criminal charges against him were resolved.
How the shooting unfolded
The day Brooks was shot, police were responding to the Wendy’s following reports that a man was asleep in his vehicle in the drive-thru, according to the GBI.
When Brosnan arrived, Brooks was apparently asleep behind the wheel, and Brosnan knocked on the window to wake him up. Brosnan later asked him whether he’d been drinking. Brooks told the officer he had only one drink, body-worn camera shows.
A few minutes later, Rolfe arrived on the scene and used a Breathalyzer on Brooks. As Rolfe attempted to handcuff Brooks, a struggle ensued.
Brooks struggled with the officers and grabbed Brosnan’s Taser, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Another video filmed by a bystander begins shortly after the struggle started and shows Brooks getting a hold of the Taser and breaking free.
As Brooks ran from the officers, he turned back and appears to point the Taser at Rolfe, who unholstered his handgun and fired, shooting Brooks twice in the back.
In addition, the Atlanta police policy manual says that an officer can use deadly force when, “He or she reasonably believes that the suspect possesses a deadly weapon or any object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury and when he or she reasonably believes that the suspect poses an immediate threat of serious bodily injury to the officer or others.”
CNN’s Devon M. Sayers, Jason Morris, Dakin Andone and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.