#Ex-Atlanta cop Garrett Rolfe to be charged with murder in Rayshard Brooks shooting

The ex-Atlanta cop who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks will be charged with felony murder, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Garrett Rolfe, 27, who was fired Saturday after shooting Brooks twice in the back during a scuffle outside a Wendy’s restaurant, will face 11 charges in all — including aggravated assault, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, a second officer at the scene, Devin Brosnan, 26, is cooperating with police in the investigation, Howard said.

“We have decided to issue warrants in this case today,” Howard said as he opened the press conference.

Howard said investigators interviewed 10 witnesses and reviewed various videos of the incident, as well as the cops’ two Tasers.

Among prosecutors’ considerations was that “we noted from our evaluation was that Mr. Brooks on the night of the incident was calm, was cordial, and really displayed a cooperative nature” during the initial encounter, Howard said.

The two cops also did not check on Brooks for more than 2 minutes, while Rolfe at one point kicked him while he lay dying and Brosnan “stood on his shoulder.”

Howard said police also did not tell Brooks that he was being placed under arrest for driving under the influence.

Howard had said Sunday that there were three “relevant” charges possible in the case — manslaughter, murder and felony murder.

But the prosecutor said it would likely be “between murder and felony murder.”

He said then that Brooks “did not seem to present any kind of threat to anyone, and so the fact that it would escalate to his death just seems unreasonable. If that shot was fired for some reason other than to save that officer’s life or prevent injury to him or others, then that shooting is not justified under the law.”

Rolfe, a seven-year veteran of the Atlanta police force, was fired Saturday, one day after Brooks was shot and killed.

The cops were summoned to the fast-food eatery after a 911 call reporting that Brooks had fallen asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane.

The exchange started off amicably, with Brooks, 27, chatting with the officers about his daughter’s birthday that day and submitting to a field sobriety test. But when the cops attempted to handcuff him, Brooks fought back and scuffled with the officers.

He ran off after grabbing one of the cops’ Tasers and was shot twice in the back by Rolfe.

The shooting sparked a new round of angry protests in the city, which had already seen two weeks of demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s May 25 death during an encounter with police in Minneapolis.

According to disciplinary records released Tuesday, Rolfe had been the subject of 12 citizen complaints since joining the force in 2013.

Rolfe also received a written reprimand in 2017 for a use-of-force incident involving a firearm, was involved in two vehicle accidents and was involved in a firearm discharge incident in 2015.

The records do not provide details, but a new report Wednesday said Rolfe was among three officers involved in the 2015 incident — and who did not report that they discharged their weapons in the initial report.

In that case, Jackie Jermaine Harris, a black man, was shot and wounded by the cops following a police vehicle chase.