Atlanta Police Department officers encountered Rayshard Brooks late Friday evening inside a vehicle in a south Atlanta Wendy’s parking lot, according to an early timeline compiled by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation detailing Brooks’ last moments.
Atlanta Police officials told the GBI they were called to the restaurant after receiving a complaint about a man asleep in his vehicle, which forced customers in line to go around his vehicle to get their food in the drive-through.
Several cars were in the drive-through line at the Wendy’s, at 125 University Avenue SW, as police approached Brooks’ vehicle. Some people inside those cars pulled out their phones. At least one got out to record, according to video posted online.
According to GBI Director Vic Reynolds, events are being put together using witness statements, as well as police bodycam video, footage from Wendy’s surveillance cameras and recordings posted on social media from the scene.
Here’s what happened:
•Atlanta Police approached Brooks, who was under suspicion of driving under the influence.
•At some point, Brooks got out of the vehicle and engaged with officers, during this time, according to an earlier GBI statement, Brooks failed a field sobriety test and officers attempted to take him into custody.
•Brooks then became engaged in a physical altercation with two officers and secured a Taser from one of them.
•Video from the Wendy’s restaurant surveillance cameras shows Brooks fleeing from the officers, apparently with the Taser in hand.
•After running the distance of about 7 parking spaces, turns around and apparently points the Taser at the officers.
•An officer draws his weapon and strikes Brooks, firing possibly three shots, or more.
•The GBI received a call from the Atlanta Police Department at approximately 10:33 p.m. asking that they investigate the officer-involved shooting.
Brooks, 27, was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Footage will be digitally enhanced and sent to media expeditiously, Reynolds said.
“It’s helpful if you see what we see,” he said. “People have a right to know what happened, how it happened.”
He said he was unaware of any bodycam being turned off in the course of the DUI investigation, but one of the officer’s cameras apparently was either “broken or knocked off.”
Brooks’ death prompted protests at the restaurant and in the area throughout Saturday.
The timeline could change as more interviews take place and the investigation continues, Reynolds said, adding he did not want people to rush to judgment on what happened out there.
“We know it’s easy on both sides,” he said.
