Felony Murder Charges Pondered for Atlanta Cop Who Shot Black Man, DA Says

A Georgia district attorney said murder charges could come as soon as Wednesday for the fired officer who allegedly shot a taser-wielding black man who resisted arrest and ran from police.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks “did not seem to present any threat to anyone” when he was shot Friday night by an Atlanta police officer. Howard called the actions by officers “unreasonable,” Fox News reported.

“There are really three charges that are relevant: One would be the murder charge in the state of Georgia. That charge is a charge that is directly related to an intent to kill,” Howard said, according to Fox.

“The second charge is felony murder and that is a charge that involves a death that comes as a result of the commission of an underlying felony. In this case, that underlying felony would be aggravated assault.”

Officer Garrett Rolfe, who investigators say shot Brooks, has since been fired and officer Devin Brosnan, also involved in the encounter, has been put on administrative duty, according to Fox.

Video shows a struggle ensued between officers and Brooks after he was apprehended for an alleged DUI and they began to handcuff him.

Brooks was shot dead in a Wendy’s parking lot, police said, after he broke loose, grabbed an officer’s Taser, and fired it as he fled.

“As I pursued him, he turned and started firing the Taser at me,” Rolfe told a supervisor after the shooting, according to Fox. “He definitely did shoot it at me at least once.”

Forty-two people were arrested between Saturday and Sunday after riots broke out in Atlanta following Brooks’ death. The Wendy’s restaurant where the incident happened was torched by demonstrators, according to AJC.

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