Garrett Rolfe had a long list of complaints on his record. Photo / Twitter
Garrett Rolfe had a long list of complaints on his record. Photo / Twitter
The Atlanta policeman who shot and killed unarmed black man Rayshard Brooks on the weekend had a long list of citizen complaints on his record, including a reprimand for excessive force with a firearm.
Garrett Rolfe was sacked Sunday by the city's police department following the fatal shooting, which sparkeda new wave of anti-racism protests in the state capital of Georgia.
Police released the disciplinary histories for both Rolfe and Officer Devin Brosnan, who was also involved in the incident that led to Brooks' death.
The documents reveal Rolfe received a written reprimand in 2017 based on a complaint involving force with a firearm, but provides no further detail about the incident.
His file included 12 other incidents ranging from vehicle accidents to citizens' complaints, of which he was cleared of nine, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Two of those invoked reprimands, which were related to vehicle accidents, while another involving the discharge of a firearm back in 2015 didn't have a conclusion listed in the documents.
Rayshard Brooks was shot in the back and killed by police on the weekend. Photo / Atlanta Police Department
Brosnan, who has been placed on administrative duty while the shooting of Brooks is investigated, has no disciplinary marks on his history.
Early Sunday, Atlanta police announced that Rolfe had been fired following the fatal shooting of Brooks, 27, on Friday night.
The 27-year-old man was sleeping in his car and reportedly blocking a Wendy's drive-through when police interviewed him and made him do a sobriety test.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Brooks, who failed the sobriety test, had grabbed a Taser from one officer and appeared to point it at the officer as he fled. The officer fired an estimated three shots.
The Wendy's was set aflame at one point on Saturday night, although the fire was out before midnight.
Atlanta police said on Sunday that 36 people had been arrested in connection with the protests, but gave no further details.
Protests are continuing across the country after the death of George Floyd three weeks ago.
Garrett Rolfe had a long list of complaints on his record. Photo / Twitter
COPS CLEANED UP SCENE
It's been alleged that the two cops involved in the shooting, Rolfe and Brosnan, collected their shell casings rather than giving first aid to the man dying on the ground.
It is claimed they waited more than two minutes before even checking his pulse, a lawyer for Brooks' family claims.
Witnesses said that "the officers went and put on plastic gloves and picked up their shell casings after they killed him — before rendering aid," lawyer L Chris Stewart said at a press conference Saturday, a day after Brooks was shot dead trying to avoid a drunk-driving arrest.
"They appear to be caring more about covering their tracks than providing aid," he said of the officers, Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan.
"Aid that could have saved his life if allegedly he was taken to the hospital and died in surgery. But they didn't give that to him."
"One kicks him and flips him over," Stewart claimed of the officers.
"We counted two minutes and 16 seconds before they even checked his pulse," he insisted of numerous videos of the deadly encounter. "And people wonder why everyone's mad."
Protesters burned the Wendy's at the site of the shooting of Mr Brooks. Photo / AP
VIDEO REVEALS VICTIM WAS RUNNING AWAY
Before the officer's bodycam footage was released, surveillance video footage of the moment Brooks was chased and shot was circulated.
The footage, released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, shows Brooks firing a Taser toward the officer, who chased him through the car park.
A video posted to social media showed Brooks grappling with two officers attempting to arrest him, with one appearing to try to stun him with the Taser after Brooks threw a punch at him.
As Brooks ran away, appearing to hold the Taser, one officer chased after him, holding another stun gun. Then, in one video, several gunshots were heard.
The GBI initially said in a statement that witnesses described Brooks being shot "in the struggle over the Taser".
But after obtaining Wendy's surveillance video, the bureau revised its account, saying it "was based on the officer's bodycam which was knocked off during the physical struggle, preventing the capture of the entire shooting incident".
"During the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer," the bureau said, adding that "the officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks".
