On Sunday, Atlanta City Councilmember Joyce Sheperd spoke to the crowd that had gathered at the spot where Rayshard Brooks was shot.
Courtesy of Rose Scott
Updated Monday at 12:52 p.m.
Late Sunday the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office released the results of an autopsy performed on Rayshard Brooks, who was killed Friday night in southwest Atlanta. The cause of death was listed as “gunshot wounds of the back.”
The autopsy concluded that Brooks died from blood loss and damage to internal organs after being shot twice in the back, the Fulton County medical examiner’s office said in a news release.
Earlier, a makeshift memorial popped up at the Wendy’s where Brooks was fatally shot by a white Atlanta police officer, one of the latest deaths of black men that have ignited a new wave of anti-racism protests across the country.
Atlanta City Councilmember Joyce Sheperd spoke to the crowd that had gathered at the spot Sunday afternoon, telling them a change will come.
Taking place now state lawmakers & @CityofAtlanta Councilmember Joyce Shepard speaking to crowd garhered at Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed. pic.twitter.com/2a55cCQs2s
By late Sunday, more than 100 people, some sporting umbrellas and rain gear after on-and-off rain, protested peacefully at the site. Police blocked some side streets, slowing traffic in the area as people held up signs.
Police said six arrests were made during protests Sunday night.
The burned-out Wendy’s was set ablaze Saturday night, and authorities were offering a $10,000 reward for information, “that will lead to the arrest and indictment of the individuals responsible,” for starting the fire, according to a press release from the Atlanta Police Department.
The police distributed photos of a suspect and linked to a Twitter post they said shows the individual.
Protests were planned in several locations in metro Atlanta, including one in Piedmont Park at 5 p.m. Sunday and a die-in at the APD HQ on Peachtree Street.
Earlier Developments
Early Sunday, Atlanta police announced that an officer, Garrett Rolfe, had been fired following the fatal shooting of Brooks, 27, on Friday night, and another officer, Devin Brosnan, had been placed on administrative duty. On Saturday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had called for the immediate firing of the officer who opened fire on Brooks and announced that she had accepted the resignation of Police Chief Erika Shields.
“I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force,” Bottoms said.
Roughly 150 protesters marched outside the Wendy’s where Brooks was shot, reigniting demonstrations that had largely simmered in the Georgia capital nearly three weeks after George Floyd, another black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck. Both Rolfe and Brosnan are white.
Atlanta police officers try to stop protesters from getting too close to the Wendy’s as the building is completely engulfed in flames on Saturday. (Lily Oppenheimer)
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Brooks, who was seen on body camera video sleeping in a car blocking the Wendy’s drive-thru, failed a sobriety test and was shot in a struggle over a police Taser.
Atlanta police said Sunday that 36 people had been arrested in connection with the protests, but gave no further details.
WABE’s host of “Closer Look” Rose Scott contributed to this report.
