The white Atlanta police officer who shot and killed an African-American suspect when he aimed a Taser at him outside a Wendy's restaurant faces 11 criminal charges, including murder.
Officer Garrett Rolfe was fired after last Friday night's shooting of Rayshard Brooks.
A second officer on the scene, Devin Brosnan, has been placed on administrative leave. He was charged with aggravated assault.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard says both officers kicked the wounded Brooks as he lay on the ground and says Brosnan kept his foot on Brooks' shoulder. Howard says neither officer gave Brooks any medical aid for more than two minutes.
Their demeanor after the shooting "did not reflect any fear or danger of Mr. Brooks, but reflected other kinds of emotions," Howard said. But he added that Brosnan has agreed to be a state's witness against Rolfe.
The medical examiner says Brooks died of blood loss and organ damage after being shot in the back twice.
His death set off a day of violent protests in Atlanta, which included the Wendy's restaurant being burned to the ground. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned hours after Brooks was killed.
Police dash and body cam video captured the scene.
Rolfe confronted Brooks, who had fallen asleep in his car and was blocking the drive-through lane of the restaurant last Friday night. The two appeared to be having a friendly conversation, with Brooks reportedly telling Rolfe that he knew the officer was just doing his job.
After Brosnan arrived, Brooks failed a breathalyzer, then tried to flee as police attempted to handcuff him.
The officers wrestled Brooks to the ground, commanding him to "stop fighting." Brooks then reportedly grabbed Rolfe's Taser and aimed it at Rolfe as he ran. Rolfe opened fire at least three times, hitting Brooks in the back. Brooks later died at a hospital.
Reaction to death
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called the Brooks killing a "murder" earlier this week, after previously saying only that it was not 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," Bottoms had said.
Rolfe's lawyers plan to argue the shooting was justified.
"Mr. Brooks violently attacked two officers and disarmed one of them. When Mr. Brooks turned and pointed an object at Officer Rolfe, any officer would have reasonably believed that he intended to disarm, disable, or seriously injure him," the lawyers said.
Some law enforcement experts who saw the police video say a Taser can potentially be a fatal weapon and that Rolfe may have felt his life was in danger.
Brooks' death comes as the country is grappling with the fallout of last month's death of George Floyd, the African-American man who died after a white Minneapolis policeman put his knee on his neck for almost nine minutes following an arrest for suspected counterfeiting.
The Floyd death set off peaceful and violent protests around the world against racism and what demonstrators say is brutal police treatment of black men by white officers in the United States.
