BUCKHEAD, Ga. — A crowd plans to return to a Buckhead Brazilian steakhouse this weekend to mark a year since a young man was shot and killed by an Atlanta Police Department officer.
Nygil Cullins was 22 years old when APD officers shot and killed him on May 18, 2022. After his family viewed the bodycam footage in March, they have continued to ask that it be released to the public.
In hopes of more people hearing their demands, Cullins' family and the Georgia NAACP along with the Atlanta NAACP will host the "We're Not Stopping" rally on the sidewalk outside of Fogo de Chão Saturday and Sunday starting at 5 p.m.
Police said Cullins shot a security guard who had tried to tackle him inside the Fogo de Chão along Piedmont Road NE. Officers fired at Cullins, killing him.
Since the fatal shooting, Cullins' parents said the altercation should never have happened as their son's actions were preceded by a mental health episode.
Mya Cullins said she had gone to her son's apartment earlier that day and could immediately tell he wasn't well. She and his father called the police before he left for the restaurant but said officers didn't show up at Cullins' apartment until two hours after their call. She maintains that her son could have still been alive if the police arrived sooner.
"I would've rather him been in the psychiatric hospital than outside in a body bag," she said the night of the shooting.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate the shooting which is standard procedure when a shooting involves law enforcement. The findings will be turned over to the district attorney's office to determine if charges will be filed and if any wrongdoing was involved.
The two chapters of the NAACP and Cullins' family hosted a similar rally on March 18 demanding justice for the 22-year-old.
A crowd of more than a dozen people held posters and signs while chanting "Black Lives Matter" to raise awareness about Cullins' death investigation. At the time, the family had said they had reviewed law enforcement body camera video which "raised additional questions about the shooting."
What led up to Nygil Cullins' death at Fogo de Chão
Calls to 911 by Cullins' mother showed she asked for someone well-trained in mental health to respond, adding that she's a doctor and recognized her son was "going through his manic phase," according to a recording.
A customer from inside the restaurant and calls to 911 from the business offered further insight.
"We have a guy in here with a gun, and he's acting very, very weird," a man said during his first call to 911. A second call was made 10 minutes later, but this time the caller sounded more flustered and shared more concerns about Cullins.
Police said when they arrived, they found Cullins at the bar, and he resisted them. An officer tried to stun him with a Taser, but it didn't work. Then investigators said Cullins pulled out a gun and started firing it in the restaurant, striking a security guard. Officers fired back at Cullins, killing him.
It's unclear if police realized Cullins was suffering from a mental health crisis and made the connection to the 911 call his family had made hours earlier in Midtown.
NAACP asks Justice Department to investigate APD
Following Cullins' police-shooting death, the Atlanta and Georgia chapter of the NAACP hosted a news conference raising concerns about the number of Black men shot by the APD. The organization specifically pointed to the increasing number of open investigations, cases prosecutors haven't resolved, or where the leaders believe police used excessive force and were not held accountable.
They said Cullins' was part of a growing and gross trend at APD -- and said the trend could be put to rest if the Department of Justice stepped in.