ATLANTA — The family of Rayshard Brooks has reached a $1 million settlement with the City of Atlanta, attorneys said.
It marks the end of this chapter in the ongoing legal saga surrounding the 27-year-old's death. Brooks' police shooting death came at the peak of calls for law enforcement accountability in the summer of 2020. A special prosecutor dropped criminal charges against the Atlanta Police Department officers in August.
"This grieving family has been through so much during this process. Although the children of Mr. Brooks have lost their father, settling the case will undoubtedly assist them with future plans as they come of age," Brooks' family attorneys said in a statement.
The civil lawsuit came on the heels of special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis' decision that the officers' use of force was reasonable, dropping charges against them. Skandalakis' decision was considered a legal blow in the high-tension case that stirred further unrest in Atlanta.
It all started as a traffic stop on June 12, 2020 when officers were called to a suspected DUI over complaints of a man asleep at the wheel near a Wendy's drive-thru line.
Officer Devin Brosnan first tried to arrest Brooks, calling in Officer Garrett Rolfe as a DUI specialist.
After speaking with Brooks for roughly 40 minutes, the officers began to cuff him. Brooks then ran from Rolfe after grabbing his taser and discharging it back toward the officer, authorities said. In that moment, Rolfe fired a shot which resulted in the 27-year-old's death.
"While we are disappointed that prosecutors didn't pursue a criminal case against the officers involved in Mr. Brooks' death, we continue to hold out hope that the Dept. of Justice will intervene in this matter," Brooks' attorneys said.
Brooks' widow Tomika Miller is currently pushing for the former site of the Wendy's to be turned into a peace center in Brooks' honor.