Hours after the charges were announced yesterday against two Atlanta police officers in the killing of 27-year-old Rashard Brooks at an Atlanta fast-food restaurant, the Atlanta Police Department said an unusual number of officers called out sick from the late shift.
Howard said that Brooks at the time of his death did not pose a threat to the officers and that it is against Atlanta PD’s code of conduct for them to fire any weapon, whether it be a taser or a gun at a suspect who is running.
Rolfe along with former officer Devin Bronsan engaged Brooks for 41 minutes and 17 seconds that night outside the Wendy’s on University Ave. According to DA Howard, not once did they inform Brooks that he was under arrest and the 27-year-old was cooperative with them throughout.
“During that 2 minutes and 12 seconds, Officer Rolfe actually kicked Mr. Brooks as he laid on the ground, while he was there fighting for his life,” Howard said.
After the charges were announced the Atlanta Police Department experienced officers walking off the job and that they were experiencing an unusually high number of calling off sick on Wednesday evening’s shifts.