Rayshard Brooks, the 27-year-old black man who was fatally shot by an Atlanta police officer, had been celebrating his daughter’s birthday on the night of his death, lawyers for his family said in a news conference Saturday. Brooks was killed during a confrontation with police late Friday night.
Attorney L. Chris Stewart said Brooks had planned on taking his 8-year-old daughter skating for her birthday but never came home. “She had her birthday dress on. She was waiting for her dad to come pick her up and take her skating,” he said Saturday.
Brooks has three daughters, ages 1, 2 and 8, and a 13-year-old stepson. Steward said Brooks was beloved by family and friends. “We watched them play and laugh and be oblivious to the fact that their dad was murdered on camera, a scene that we keep repeating,” Stewart told reporters.
“A scene that we keep repeating as we watched Gianna Floyd play in Houston, oblivious to that her dad was knelt on and murdered,” he said, referencing the death of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody last month. “How many more examples will there be?”
Police said Brooks fell asleep in the Wendy’s drive-thru on Friday night and had failed a sobriety test. The department released body camera video in which Brooks admitted to having a few drinks for his daughter’s birthday, but a struggle ensued when officers tried to cuff him.
Brooks then stole a Taser from an officer, ran from the officers, and at one point, aimed the Taser at police before the officer fired his weapon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said, citing surveillance video that was released to the public. Brooks died after undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital.
Garrett Rolfe, the officer who killed Brooks, has been fired from the Atlanta Police Department. An investigation into the officers’ actions is underway.
Less than 24 hours after the shooting, the city’s police chief, Erika Shields, resigned. In a statement, Shields said: “I have faith in the mayor, and it is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
The shooting comes as anti-police brutality protests have swept the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death, a 46-year-old black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.
