A black man killed by police in Atlanta in a fight following a field sobriety test was shot dead after entering a Taser from an officer and pointed at the officer while fleeing, said on Saturday the 13th of June the head of the agency to the Georgian investigating the case.
The director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Vic Reynolds, said that the shootings Friday night in front of the restaurant Wendy’s had been captured by a security camera as well as the mobile phones of witnesses. Reynolds said that the GBI would share the images of the security camera with the public later Saturday.
The chief of police of Atlanta Erika Shields resigned Saturday, less than 24 hours after this incident. The mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, announced at a press conference that she had accepted his resignation.
“In circumstances such as these, when an officer is involved in the use of lethal force, the public has the right to know what happened “said Reynolds during a press conference earlier, while protesters gathered on the scene of the shooting and in other areas of Atlanta.
Increased Tensions
The police of Atlanta has been called the restaurant to complain that a man was sleeping in a car was blocking the service road behind the wheel while customers were waiting, said the GBI. The agency has identified the man who was killed by a bullet as Rayshard Brooks, 27 years.
The shooting occurred at a time of heightened tension on the police brutality and the call for reforms across the United States after the death of George Floyd on may 25 in Minneapolis. Atlanta was among the u.s. cities where large crowds of demonstrators took to the streets. A crowd of demonstrators gathered Saturday in front of the restaurant in Atlanta where Brooks was shot and killed. Gerald Griggs, attorney and vice-president, NAACP of Atlanta, estimated that there were 150 people who were demonstrating on the scene as he walked with them on Saturday afternoon.
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