A black Atlanta man died after he was shot by a white police officer in a fast-food drive-thru late Friday.
The victim, Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot during a struggle and died after surgery at a local hospital, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One officer was treated for an injury and discharged.
Brooks had been asleep in his car in a Wendy’s drive-thru, causing other customers to drive around the car, the Bureau of Investigation said. Police were dispatched to the Wendy’s around 10:30 p.m. and conducted a sobriety test on Brooks, who failed the test, according to the officials. “During the arrest, the male subject resisted and a struggle ensued,” the Bureau of Investigation said. “The officer deployed a Taser. Witnesses report that during the struggle the male subject grabbed and was in possession of the Taser. It has also been reported that the male subject was shot by an officer in the struggle over the Taser.” In a video captured by a man from his car, Rayshard is seen struggling on the ground with two police officers over the Taser. As he stood up and started running away, both cops chased him from behind before one of them fired three-times at Rayshard.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation later released a surveillance video which captured the officer who fired three shots to Rayshard’s back until he collapsed to the ground.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Jr. said in a statement Saturday that his office had already launched an “intense, independent” investigation of the incident, and that members of his office were on the scene shortly after the shooting.
In an update to the story, the police officer, has been relieved of his duties as a policeman
