ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department released video of when a 22-year-old man was shot and killed at a Buckhead restaurant over two years ago.
Nygil Cullins was killed by police officers responding at Fogo de Chão along Piedmont Road NE -- a restaurant he was at -- on May 18, 2022. Since that day, his parents and attorneys have been actively fighting for transparency and for the release of full, unedited video of what happened that night.
11Alive previously reported how the family viewed some of the footage themselves and continued to ask for it to be released to the public.
Now, on Monday, APD released both videos from the involved officers' body cameras and videos from the restaurant's surveillance cameras to the public.
The moments before the shooting
Nygil Cullins walked into the restaurant's bar on Piedmont Road shortly before 7 p.m., according to the timestamp on security footage. The video shows him walking all the way down to the last seat of the bar.
By 7:22 p.m., Nygil is seen on his phone, still sitting at the bar. He continues to be on his phone until 7:30 p.m. when surveillance shows him walking and attempting to get behind the bar to get a bottle of alcohol.
The security video shows an employee trying to stop him as he walks away. Nygil is seen walking back to the end of the bar with the bottle as the employee in question leaves the room. Then, the surveillance video shows Nygil going back to his phone.
The surveillance video provided does not contain audio, so it is unknown what exactly was said during interactions while he was at the bar.
However, 911 calls released back in 2022 provided some insight as a man called the police, stating that there was a man with a gun at the restaurant. That same man called 911 again about 10 minutes later and sounded slightly more flustered.
“He pushed the bartender out of the way, and you know, like I said, 'He’s got a gun in his…uh… belt,'" the man said.
The caller said the man did not point the gun at anyone at the time, but he was yelling and agitated.
In the surveillance video, around 7:34 p.m., Nygil appears to be talking with a group of people behind him as he eats. At 7:36 p.m., he walks away from the bar and leaves the frame. About two minutes later, he returns.
It looks like he talked with several others during his time at the bar, but according to the time stamp on the surveillance video, police did not show up until around 7:46 p.m.
The interaction
Officers' bodycam video shows Nygil turning around and standing up as police arrive at the restaurant's bar. Once standing, the video shows Nygil quickly put his hands up in the air, and a gun can be seen poking out of his pants, but no weapon is in his hands.
The interaction between Nygil and the officers is hard to see based on the body camera's perspective. However, Nygil is seen falling to the ground as the officers approach in the video.
As a security guard moves a chair away, bodycam video shows the officer raising his gun toward Nygil.
"Stop! Put down the gun," the officer can be heard yelling in the bodycam video.
Nygil's hands are raised, and no gun can be seen -- only the napkin he's holding.
"Put your hands where I can find them," an officer can be heard saying in the video.
At that same time, Nygil appears to have been Tased.
"Put your hands in the air," an officer said.
In the video, Nygil appears to be backing away as he is Tased. Then, the video shows Nygil getting up and starting to run away from the police. The video then shows the officer following Nygil with his gun out.
As he runs away toward the restaurant's front door, a gun can be seen in his hand in the video, but it does not look to be pointed at the officer.
Men, who appear to be security guards, then can be seen grabbing Nygil as he makes it close to the front door. The video shows Nygil falling to the ground as security tackles him.
There appears to be a tussle -- what sounds like a gunshot erupts, but it's difficult to tell where the shots were fired from. APD previously said the security guard was hurt in the incident, and a gun is seen in the bodycam video near the guard.
Immediately after, the bodycam video shows an officer firing multiple rounds at Nygil. The 22-year-old's gun was on the floor next to him as he was on the ground.
Nygil seemingly moves by putting his hand down near the gun on the floor, but there isn't a clear picture of whether he grabbed it. An officer then fired several more rounds at Nygil in response, according to the bodycam video.
At this point in the video, Nygil remains on the ground by the door. He would later be pronounced dead. The entire incident unfolded around 7:47 p.m., according to the restaurant's security video.
Background on the case
Nygil Cullins' parents previously said the deadly shooting was preceded by a mental health episode. His mother, Mya, previously told 11Alive she had gone to her son's apartment and felt that he "wasn't well."
They called the police prior to Nygil going to the restaurant on Piedmont Road and specifically asked for someone well-trained in dealing with mental health episodes it was a fear of hers that he would be murdered by police.
"When I got on the phone with them, I said, 'He's an African American male; please make sure whoever shows up is trained and knowledgeable, so when they deal with my son, I don't have to worry about my son being killed,'" she said.
Nygil's mother previously said she called the Riverwood Behavioral Health System ahead of time to make sure they had a bed available and told 911 dispatchers she would follow police there and fill out the paperwork when they arrived.
According to her account, police took nearly two hours to show up, and when they arrived, they missed Nygil by around 10 minutes. Despite efforts to keep him at the apartment, he had left and eventually made his way to the Buckhead restaurant.
APD said that around 7 p.m. that night, they were sent there regarding an "unruly patron who was armed with a handgun." APD said in its video released Monday that the caller advised the guest was yelling at employees and wanting to drink alcohol.
Based on previously released information, officers encountered Nygil and attempted to escort him out. They said he was not cooperative, and the encounter escalated to a physical altercation where the officer deployed a Taser.
APD previously said the Taser was not effective and that Nygil began heading toward the door when he was tackled by a security guard. The agency said that he then got out his gun and fired one round that hit the guard. APD stated that at least one of their officers discharged their gun and killed Nygil. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was then called in to investigate the shooting and turn over its findings to the district attorney's office.
In May, the family announced a federal lawsuit against the City of Atlanta, Fogo de Chão, the restaurant's security team, the security guard and the two APD officers who responded. The federal lawsuits claim negligence, inadequate training and excessive and deadly force all contributed to the shooting.