Atlanta – The former Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks last week was previously reprimanded for use of force involving a firearm, according to records released to Reuters by the city’s police department on Tuesday.
The records show that Garrett Rolfe received a written reprimand in October 2017 for an incident involving a firearm in September 2016, his sole use-of-force complaint during his seven years on the force. No further details were disclosed.
Rolfe was fired from the department on Saturday, one day after he shot Brooks in the parking lot of a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant. A second officer at the scene, Devin Brosnan, was put on administrative duty.
The death of 27-year-old Brooks, which came after he tussled with Rolfe and Brosnan and took off running with one of their Taser guns, was the latest killing of a black man to spark nationwide outrage at police brutality and racial injustice.
Both Rolfe and Brosnan are white.
An autopsy conducted on Sunday showed that Brooks died from blood loss and organ injuries and ruled the death a homicide.
Rolfe’s record shows that he was the subject of four citizen complaints, none of which resulted in disciplinary action against him.
Brosnan, who joined the police force in 2018, has no disciplinary history. (Reuters)
