Police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks had previous complaints and reprimand for use of force, records show
The Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks already had one reprimand for use of force involving a firearm plus several citizen complaints, newly-released records show.
Garrett Rolfe, 27, who was fired following Mr Brooks's death, received a written reprimand in October 2017 for an incident in September 2016, according to Atlanta Police Department documents released to Reuters.
While that was his sole use-of-force reprimand in the seven years before Friday's shooting, Mr Rolfe has several citizen complaints dating back to 2015 in which no action was taken, the outlet reported.
His disciplinary file outlines five vehicle accidents and four citizen complaints, with two of the vehicle accidents leading to a written reprimand and an oral admonishment, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's version of the documents.
In all the report lists three incidents involving use of a firearm. Along with the reprimand, a discharge in 2015 did not have a conclusion listed and the 2016 incident resulted in the reprimand about a year later. The shooting of Mr Brooks was the third firearm incident listed, according to the reports.
No further information was disclosed from the new documents released after the shooting in a Wendy's parking lot, in which video footage showed Mr Brooks wrestle with two police and run off with one of their Taser guns before turning towards Mr Rolfe, who then opens fire.
Police on Monday released the 911 call from a woman working at the Wendy's, saying she suspected Mr Brooks was intoxicated.
"I tried to wake him up, but he's parked dead in the middle of the drive-thru, so I don't know what's wrong with him," the caller said.
Police body camera footage showed Mr Brooks failed a breathalyzer test and then resisted arrest when the officers tried to arrest him, which led to the struggle for the Taser weapon.
"It does appear in the video that he is fleeing from the Atlanta police officers, that as he's fleeing he turns back over his shoulder with what appears to the naked eye to be his Taser that the eyewitnesses told us they saw the individual have that belonged to one of the officers," Georgia Bureau of Investigations Director Vic Reynolds said, according to the AJC.
"And as he turned it over, you'll be able to see on the video the Atlanta officer, literally reach down to get his service weapon and as he gets his weapon, Mr Brooks begins turning his body away from him, I presume to flee."
While Mr Rolfe was fired, a second officer at the scene, Devin Brosnan, who has had no disciplinary history since joining the police in 2018, was placed on administrative duty.
L Chris Stewart, an attorney for the Brooks family, said the disciplinary records of Mr Rolfe were not a surprise.
"I could have told people, 'I guarantee you this officer has had issues in the past.' It's normally that situation," Mr Stewart said, according to CNN.
"You know who causes issues or who has had prior issues or who has complaints. A lot of them don't get justified and then they stay on the force."
An autopsy on Sunday by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office found that Mr Brooks suffered organ damage and blood loss from two gunshot wounds.
The death was ruled a homicide, and Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said a decision would be made by midweek whether to bring charges against the officers, based on whether they felt Mr Brooks posed a threat.
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