A special prosecutor won’t pursue criminal charges against two Atlanta police officers involved in a drive-thru shooting that killed Rayshard Brooks two years ago.
Pete Skandalakis, the prosecutor brought in after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis recused herself from the case, announced during a Tuesday news conference that he would not pursue charges against the two officers, Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan. Both officers, who are white, were involved in the fatal shooting of Brooks, a black man, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Based on the facts and circumstances confronting Officer Rolfe and Officer Brosnan in this case, it is my conclusion the use of deadly force was objectively reasonable and that they did not act with criminal intent,” Skandalakis said.
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The shooting, which took place on June 12, 2020, happened less than a month after the death of George Floyd, which sparked protests against police and racism across the United States. Less than a week after Brooks’s death, Rolfe was charged with 11 counts, including felony murder, and Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath of office, according to former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.

Brooks had been asleep at the wheel while in a Wendy’s drive-thru line and resisted the two officers when they tried to arrest him on a DUI charge, according to investigators. As Brooks struggled with the officers, they fell to the ground and Brooks took Brosnan’s Taser and was seen aiming it at Rolfe, firing once and missing. Rolfe then fired three bullets at Brooks, hitting him twice in the back, according to authorities.
Prior to the attempted arrest, the officers suspected Brooks had been driving under the influence, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Brooks consented to a portable field alcohol test, and it returned a result above the legal limit of 0.08% blood alcohol content, the agency stated.
When the officers attempted to take Brooks into custody, Brooks proceeded to “beat the crap out of the two officers,” said Danny Porter, a former longtime district attorney for Gwinnett County. At that point, the officers had probable cause to arrest Brooks for DUI, escape and resisting arrest, Porter said.
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Rolfe was fired after the shooting but was later reinstated by the city’s Civil Service Board in May 2021. He is still on administrative leave. Brosnan was never fired by the police department but was also placed on administrative leave following the shooting, according to NBC News.
Both officers filed lawsuits in June against the city of Atlanta and former city officials seeking unspecified monetary damages, according to FOX 5.