Atlanta police chief resigns after fatal incident

WASHINGTON | The Atlanta police chief has resigned after a police officer fatally injured a suspect during an attempted arrest, the mayoress of the southern city said on Saturday.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, whose name has been put forward as a possible running mate of Democrat Joe Biden for the November presidential election, said, announcing the resignation, that Erika Shields had been in charge of the Atlanta Police Force for more than 20 years.

“Because of her desire for Atlanta to be a model of what meaningful reform should be across the country, Erika Shields tendered her immediate resignation as chief of police,” the mayor said in televised statements.

The facts happened Friday night in Atlanta, the state capital of Georgia.

They come as numerous protests against police violence have been taking place for weeks in the United States and other countries following the death of George Floyd, an African-American who died of suffocation by a police officer in Minneapolis, in the northern United States.

A black man identified as Rayshard Brooks, 27, had fallen asleep in his car on the drive-thru driveway of a fast-food restaurant, and establishment workers called the police because he was blocking the customers, according to an official report.

The man was intoxicated and resisted when police tried to arrest him, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation report said.

CCTV footage shows “that during a physical struggle with the officers, Brooks grabbed the taser from one of the officers and fled,” the report said.

“The officers chased Brooks on foot and during the chase Brooks turned and pointed the taser at the officer. The officer used his gun, hitting Brooks, ”the document reads.

Brooks was rushed to a hospital and underwent surgery, but died soon after, the report says, which adds that an officer was injured.

The mayor, who spoke after demonstrators took to the streets in Atlanta to protest the death of Rayshard Brooks, said the officer who fired the fatal shot had been removed from office.

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