Atlanta

‘Fear plays a part in your decision-making’: Trainer gives insight into Rayshard Brooks killing

By Audrey Washington, WSB-TV
By Audrey Washington, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — As protesters gathered Monday morning to demand public safety change at the state Capitol, they chanted a new name: Rayshard Brooks.

Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer Friday night after he got into a scuffle with the officer and stole the officer’s stun gun.

Channel 2’s Audrey Washington began digging into the case to learn more about Brooks and the training officers undergo to deal with potentially dangerous situations.

She met with Chris Wiggington, who is the director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. The center trains police officers across the state.

Wiggington said in the case of George Floyd, there is no ifs, ands or buts that it was murder. He said Brooks’ killing is a lot more complicated.

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“There's not one interaction that a police officer has with a citizen that is a cookie-cutter situation,” Wiggington said.

At the training center, Wiggington said trainers do their best to prepare officers for what may happen when they respond to a call.

But the fear an officer feels when they think they’re in danger is something they can’t train for.

“You can't ever take fear out of someone, no matter how well they're prepared or how well they're trained. Fear plays a part in your decision-making,” Wiggington said.

We don’t know what emotions Atlanta police officers, Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan, felt when they showed up at the Wendy’s parking lot along University Avenue just after 10:40 p.m. last Friday.

They responded to several calls of a man asleep in his car and blocking the drive-thru.

Brooks’ family said he was leaving a birthday party for his daughter before his encounter with police. In the body camera video, you see the officers give Brooks a field sobriety test and then a breathalyzer.

“Well, I think you've had too much to drink to be driving,” one of the officers told Brooks.

When the officer tries to put him in handcuffs, Brooks struggles. As he struggles, Brooks grabs one of the officers’ Taser stun gun.

As he runs away, the video shows Brooks reaching back and pointing the Taser. That's when investigators say Rolfe fired three shots, hitting Brooks. Brooks was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Wiggington told Washington that Tasers are not a deadly use of force but does say a suspect who may try to use a Taser on an officer creates a dangerous situation.

“That Taser, although it is non-deadly, it is incapacitating. So if you get shot with that Taser, and they can incapacitate you, can they take your firearm? And the answer to that question is yes,” Wiggington said.

It’s something officers train for — to look at the entire situation to determine how much of a threat that Taser is.

Wiggington wouldn’t weigh in on if Brooks’ killing was justified. But Brooks’ family has.

“No one walking this green earth expects to be killed like trash in the street for falling asleep in a drive-thru,” said Chassidy Evans, who is Brooks’ niece.

During an emotional news conference Monday, the family mourned a father, husband and cousin, who they say should still be alive today.

“The trust we have with the Atlanta police force is broken. How many more protests will it take to ensure the next victim isn’t your cousin, your brother, your uncle?” Brooks’ cousin, Tiara Brooks, said.

FULL RAYSHARD BROOKS COVERAGE:

Hundreds of demonstrators march in Atlanta for criminal justice reform Channel 2's Dave Huddleston spoke with marchers as they walked through downtown Atlanta to the Georgia state capitol.

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