Hours after two Atlanta Police officers were charged in connection with the death of Rayshard Brooks, the department confirmed that an unspecified number of officers are calling off tonight.
The city’s Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that some officers are being asked to extend their shift on Wednesday. Bottoms added that other jurisdictions have been notified and were asked to be on standby to provide the city with assistance.
Despite reports on social media, Atlanta Police denied that officers are walking off the job.
“The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift,” the department confirmed on Twitter. “We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.”
Bottoms acknowledged to Cuomo that officer morale is an issue.
Earlier on Wednesday, Garrett Rolfe, who was fired from the Atlanta Police Department following the shooting, was charged with felony murder and 10 other crimes, including four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and several violations of his oath of office.
Officer Devin Brosnan has been charged with aggravated assault and several violations of his oath of office. Brosnan was placed on administrative leave late Saturday.
Brooks died on Friday night after Rolfe shot him in the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said that officers responded to a call of a man who fell asleep behind the wheel in a drive thru. The police accused Brooks of failing a field sobriety test, which prompted the officers to attempt to arrest Brooks.
Video of the incident showed that Brooks then struggled with officers over a Taser. As Brooks took off withTaser in hand, Rolfe fatally shot Brooks.
Brooks was transported to the hospital, and he died during surgery.
