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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Anna MacSwan

Rayshard Brooks: First pictures of black man fatally shot by US police at drive-through

These are the first pictures of a black man who was fatally shot by US police outside a drive-through restaurant, sparking a new wave of anti-racist protests.

Rayshard Brooks died in hospital on Friday night after a scuffle with officers outside a Wendy's in Georgia, having allegedly failed a sobriety test and resisting arrest after falling asleep in his car.

The 27-year-old was a father to three girls and also had a stepson, WSB-TV reports.

Investigators tonight released footage of the struggle with Atlanta Police that preceded him being shot and killed, which comes only weeks after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

It has sparked fresh demonstrations in the streets of Atlanta, which saw the Wendy's where Mr Brooks died lit on fire by protesters on Saturday night.

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Images on local television showed the restaurant in flames while an anti-racist march has also completely shut down the Interstate 75 Highway.

Mr Floyd's death has sparked three weeks of widespread protests against racial discrimination, and in some cases violent clashes with police and right-wing counter-protesters, across the US and around the world.

The Wendy's near where Mr Brooks died has been set alight (REUTERS)
Protests turned to arson as tensions ran high in Atlanta overnight (REUTERS)

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has now launched a probe into Mr Brooks' death.

In a statement given to CNN, it says police were called to the restaurant at around 10.30pm on Friday after a man was found to be asleep in his vehicle, blocking the drive-through lane and forcing other customers to drive around him.

The GBI says police then gave Mr Brooks a sobriety test, which he failed, leading to the scuffle.

Earlier in the day, protesters confronted Atlanta police officers near the Wendy's restaurant (ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Attorneys L. Chris Stewart and Justin Miller, who are now representing Mr Brooks' family, released the images on Saturday night.

According to broadcaster CBS, he had spent the evening of his death celebrating his eldest daughter's birthday.

The fatal shooting led to Atlanta's police chief, Erika Shields, resigning on Saturday.

Shields' statement said: "For more than two decades, I have served alongside some of the finest women and men in the Atlanta Police Department.

"Out of a deep and abiding love for this City and this department, I offered to step aside as police chief.

"APD has my full support, and Mayor Bottoms has my support on the future direction of this department.

"I have faith in the Mayor, and it is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve."

Atlanta police chief Erika Shields resigned on Saturday following the fatal shooting (Atlanta Police Department)

The Atlanta police involved in the shooting have been criticised for the use of firearms, given that Mr Brooks appears to have only had a Taser.

The city's mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, said: "I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer."

US politician Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia political candidate, is among those who have called for restrictions on police use of deadly force.

Commenting on Twitter, she said: "A Taser is not a deadly weapon. A gun is. Adrenaline and irritation are not the same as mortal fear.

"Running away should not be punishable by death. Public safety must mean the public is safe. All of us."

And Jen Jordan, a Democratic State Senator for Georgia's 6th District, wrote: "Asleep in his car. That's why police were called.

"Now he is dead after being shot three times in the back as he was running away. #RayshardBrooks should not be dead."

Authorities have not yet released the names of the two officers, who were both white.

A video taken from a nearby car, and released by the GBI, shows Mr Brooks on the ground outside his car, struggling with two officers.

It then appears to show Mr Brooks grabbing a Taser gun from one of the officers, who was using the device on his leg.

After a few seconds, he breaks free from the officers and begins to run.

One officer then uses a Taser on him, before the pair then run out of the frame of the video.

Gun shots are heard along with someone yelling "I got him!"

The video, which the GBI says it is now using to investigate the incident, then shows Mr Brooks lying prone on the ground

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