Rayshard Brooks: Atlanta police chief resigns after black man is fatally shot during attempted arrest

Video appears to show Rayshard Brooks running away from police when gunfire is heard

Atlanta’s police chief has resigned less than 24 hours after a black man was shot and killed by officers during an attempted arrest in the city, at a time of already heightened tension across the country over the use of force against people of colour by law enforcement.

Authorities said Rayshard Brooks, 27, had fallen asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane of a Wendy’s fast food restaurant on Friday night. Police said they attempted to arrest Mr Brooks after he failed a sobriety test.

A video of one part of the incident shows a struggle on the ground between two officers and Mr Brooks, during which he manages to break away with one of the officer’s Tasers. He is then seen running away from the scene, being pursued by the officers, when three gunshots can be heard.

Police said Mr Brooks was taken to a local hospital, where he died after surgery.

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced during a news conference on Saturday that she had accepted the resignation of police chief Erika Shields.

“I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer,” Bottoms said.

The killing has sparked yet more protests in a state that had already seen large demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last month and the shooting to death of Georgia resident Ahmaud Arbery by two white men while jogging in February.

A crowd of demonstrators had gathered earlier Saturday outside the Atlanta restaurant where Brooks was shot.

“The people are upset,” said Gerald Griggs, an attorney and a vice president of Atlanta’s NAACP chapter, as he marched with protesters. “They want to know why their dear brother Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed when he was merely asleep on the passenger side and not doing anything.”

Even though Brooks struggled with officers, Mr Griggs said, “they could have used nonlethal force to take him down.”

Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who gained national prominence running for governor in 2018, tweeted Saturday of the shooting that “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death”.

“The killing of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta last night demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force,” Abrams’ tweet said. “Yes, investigations must be called for – but so too should accountability.”

Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy Peek told reporters at the scene Friday night that police had tried to use a Taser to subdue Mr Brooks, but “it was ineffective for the suspect”. “It did not stop the aggression of the fight. And so the suspect was able to take the officer’s Taser from him.”

Fulton County District attorney Paul Howard said his office had already got involved without waiting for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to finish its investigation.

“My office has already launched an intense, independent investigation of the incident,” Howard said in a statement, saying members of his staff “were on scene shortly after the shooting, and we have been in investigative sessions ever since to identify all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident”.

A statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that it was conducting an investigation into the shooting and encouraged any witnesses to come forward.

It said it had reviewed videos of the incident which “indicate that during a physical struggle with officers, Brooks obtained one of the officer’s Tasers and began to flee from the scene. Officers pursued Brooks on foot and during the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer. The officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks.”

With agencies