Autopsy report says Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back, lists manner of death as homicide

ATLANTA, G.A. (CNN) – Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back, according to a release by the Fulton County, Georgia, Medical Examiner’s Office.

Brooks died from organ damage and blood loss from the two gunshot wounds, according to the office.

The autopsy, performed on Sunday, lists Brooks’ cause of death as gunshot wounds to the back. The manner of death is listed as homicide.

Protesters took to the streets of Atlanta — and elsewhere around the country — again Sunday. In Atlanta, they gathered at the fast food restaurant where Brooks died Friday. The restaurant was torched by protesters Saturday.

At least 36 people were arrested during the protests, an Atlanta police spokesman told CNN.

“Rayshard Brooks is everybody. Just like George is everybody. We are all the people, we are all God’s children,” Brooks’ wife, Tomika Miller, told CBS This Morning. “We should feel the pain of those who lost their life to senselessness over authority being taken way overboard.”

She says she wants the officers involved in Brook’s death to go to jail.

Police responded to a call Friday night about a man sleeping in a vehicle at a Wendy’s drive-thru and began talking with Brooks.

Authorities say he failed a sobriety test and one of the officers attempted to arrest him, which led to a struggle between Brooks and two police officers, according to footage of the incident.

A video shows Brooks took an officer’s taser during the struggle and then pointed it at one of the officers as he ran away. That officer then shot Brooks three times, authorities said.

He was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after, authorities said.

Family attorneys and the district attorney say the encounter between the man and the officers should not have turned deadly. For more than 20 minutes, Brooks responded to questions calmly and complied with officers’ requests before they tried to arrest him.

“It’s very difficult when you see (the video), when you see the demeanor of Mr. Brooks, to imagine that some short time later, it ends up with him being dead,” Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Sunday.

Garrett Rolfe, the officer who killed Brooks, was terminated Saturday, police said, and a second officer involved in the killing, Devin Brosnan, was placed on administrative duty.

Rolfe was hired in 2013 and Brosnan has been with the department since 2018, police said.

Howard, the district attorney, said the possible charges could include murder, felony murder or involuntary manslaughter.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation kicked off an investigation into the incident at the request of the Atlanta Police Department, officials said Saturday.

Once that investigation is completed, the case will be turned over to prosecutors.