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Felony Murder Charges Could Come For Atlanta Cop Who Allegedly Shot Taser-Wielding Black Man, DA Says

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Jake Dima
June 15, 2020 1:17 PM ET

A Georgia district attorney said murder charges could come as soon as Wednesday for the fired officer who allegedly shot a taser-wielding black man.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks “did not seem to present any threat to anyone” when he was shot by an Atlanta police officer Friday. Howard called the actions by officers “unreasonable,” Fox News reported.

“There are really three charges that are relevant: One would be the murder charge in the state of Georgia. That charge is a charge that is directly related to an intent to kill,” Howard said, according to Fox. “The second charge is felony murder and that is a charge that involves a death that comes as a result of the commission of an underlying felony. In this case, that underlying felony would be aggravated assault.”

Officer Garrett Rolfe, who allegedly shot Brooks, has since been fired, and officer Devin Brosnan, who was also involved in the encounter, has been put on administrative duty, according to Fox.

A struggle ensued between officers and Brooks after he was apprehended for an alleged DUI.

Brooks was shot dead in a Wendy’s parking lot after he allegedly broke loose, grabbed an officer’s taser and fired it as he fled the scene.

“As I pursued him, he turned and started firing the Taser at me,” Rolfe told a supervisor after the shooting, according to Fox. “ … He definitely did shoot it at me at least once.”

Forty-two people were arrested between Saturday and Sunday after riots broke out in Atlanta following Brooks’s death. The Wendy’s restaurant where the incident happened was torched by demonstrators, according to AJC.

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