ATLANTA — Two Memphis men who saw first-hand the shooting of Rayshard Brooks said when they came to Atlanta for the weekend, they were here to pursue their music careers. Not to witness a murder.
Michael Perkins, Melvin Evans and Evans' girlfriend were in the back of the line at the drive-thru at the University Avenue Wendy's on the night of June 12. A few minutes later, they heard the encounter between Brooks and two Atlanta Police officers.
Perkins said he heard the officers say, "stop resisting! Stop resisting!" and knew things were going to go bad.
Perkins described what he saw during a news conference Thursday, nearly a week after the fatal shooting. He said at one point, he saw Brooks running toward where they were. Then, moments, later he said he heard the taser go off and then - gun shots. That's when he said he ducked in the back seat of Evans' Chevy Trailblazer.
"After those first couple of shots - after that first shot ... I ducked," Perkins said. "After that, I didn't see nothing else."
"All I'm hearing is screaming in the car from (Evans') girl, and I heard him say, 'man … he's dead'," Perkins recounted. "I guess he saw the body. I didn't see the body."
Officials said it was fired Atlanta Police officer Garrett Rolfe who fired the fatal shot that killed Brooks. Evans said he then saw one of the officers handcuff Brooks as he was on the ground.
Perkins said it wasn't until later when his group realized that one of the bullets fired hit their car. Both men have already given statements to both the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the District Attorneys' Office.
Meanwhile, former officer Rolfe and the other responding officer, Devin Brosnan, have both been charged in connection with the shooting.
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