Ex-Atlanta officer who shot Rayshard Brooks charged

WASHINGTON

The dismissed Atlanta, Georgia police officer who fired the fatal shots that killed Rayshard Brooks was charged Wednesday with nearly a dozen counts, including felony murder.

District Attorney Paul Howard told reporters that after Garrett Rolfe twice shot Brooks in the back while he was "running away," he exclaimed "I got him." Rolfe then kicked Brooks as he lay dying on the ground and neither he nor fellow officer Devin Brosnan gave Brooks any medical attention for over two minutes, Howard said.

"This is a death as a result of an underlying felony, and in this case, the underlying felony is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," he said.

If convicted on the felony murder count, Rolfe could face life in prison or the death penalty, said Howard. He also faces seven counts of violating his office and one count of aggravated assault

In addition to the two shots that struck Brooks, Rolfe fired a third that missed the deceased and struck a car with three occupants inside, according to the district attorney.

Brosnan, who faces three charges, including one count of aggravated assault, "stood on Mr. Brooks' shoulders while he was there struggling for his life," said Howard.

Brosnan has agreed to be a witness for the prosecution, Howard said.

Arrest warrants have been signed for both officers, and they have been asked to turn themselves in.

The encounter with police began when officers were responding to a call of a man sleeping in his car in the drive-thru of a Wendy's fast-food restaurant.

Officers found Brooks asleep in his car, awakened him and asked him to move his car and get out. Police questioned him for roughly 40 minutes before the situation turned violent when they attempted to handcuff him, body camera footage appears to show.

He resisted and was able to wrangle a stun gun from one of the officers, firing it at them as he ran away.

Brooks was over 18 feet away from Rolfe when he was fatally shot, said Howard.