Rogers died. He was unarmed.
Though Burns claimed the man drove at him and that he feared for his life, the Associated Press reported that an internal investigation determined the officer used unnecessary and excessive force — an uncommon action in the state of Georgia, where nearly all officer-involved shootings are deemed justified. Burns was fired in early July by Atlanta’s police chief, according to the AP.
On Wednesday, a Fulton County grand jury went one step further. It charged Burns with felony murder.
It’s a rare move, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation, which showed that from 2010 to 2015, not one fatal police shooting had gone to trial. Of the 171 fatal shootings tracked during that time period, the AJC investigation shows only one officer was indicted by a grand jury for manslaughter, a charge the judge threw out 24 hours later.
From the beginning, Rogers’s family called for criminal action against Burns.
“He was executed,” Deravis Thomas, Rogers’s father told CBS 46 after the June 22 shooting. “He was executed.”
In addition to issuing an indictment on the murder charge, the grand jury indicted Burns on charges of aggravated assault, making a false statement and two counts of violation of oath of office, the AP reported.
Leading up to the grand jury hearing Wednesday, dozens of people held a 24-hour vigil outside the Fulton County Courthouse, the tone of which was all too familiar in a country years deep into an ongoing debate about police brutality. There were drums and fists raised in solidarity and signs that read “INDICT BURNS FOR MURDER.” Protesters wore T-shirts scrawled with phrases like “Justice for Caine” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Like many officer-involved shootings that have sparked national debate, this fatal encounter was steeped in racial undertones. Officer Burns is white. Rogers was black.
When the department announced it was firing Burns, officials said they did not believe race was a factor in the shooting. The area where the shooting occurred is illuminated by street lamps, reported NBC affiliate 11Alive News, but police said Rogers’s oncoming headlights made it impossible for the officer to distinguish skin color.
The indictment comes at a time when activists across the country are more incensed than ever over officer-involved shootings disproportionately affecting people of color. Two weeks after Burns shot Rogers and just days after he was fired, the nation erupted in protest over two other officer-involved shootings — in Louisiana and Minnesota — that left Alton Sterling and Philando Castile dead.
Black Lives Matter protests stretched across the country in the days that followed, including one in Dallas, where a gunman ambushed police officers at a peaceful downtown demonstration, killing five and injuring nine people.
Days later, more police officers were ambushed in Baton Rouge. Three were killed and three others wounded.
The Atlanta case involving officer Rogers was “overshadowed by the turmoil around policing and race across the country,” the AJC wrote the week after the Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas shootings.
It began the night of June 22, when Burns responded to a dispatch call from an off-duty officer working security detail of a suspicious person on foot at an Atlanta apartment complex, reported the AP.
The security officer did not relay why he was chasing the man. He did not mention a car.
But when Burns arrived at the complex, he found a 2011 silver Ford Fusion by a curb in the parking lot, Burns told investigators in the internal report, obtained by 11Alive News, and he positioned his cruiser in front of it to block further acceleration. The car, parked on the wrong side of the road, started driving toward him, Burns said, even after he got out of his car and yelled, “stop.”
“I yell, ‘Stop, stop.’ And he doesn’t stop. … Instead, he guns it … he was trying to kill me,” Burns says, according to the transcript obtained by 11Alive News. “As the car comes by, I finally can squeeze the round off. … As I take the shot, he’s still accelerating.”
He feared for his life, Burns told authorities, which is why he shot the gun.
“How did you know he was the one?” asks the investigator with the Atlanta Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, according to 11Alive News.
“I didn’t,” Burns says. “He was the one that was trying to run me over.”
The officer told investigators he believed he shot Rogers through the windshield, but evidence shows he shot into the passenger side window as the car passed by. The bullet struck the 22-year-old in the head.
The internal investigation revealed that the Fusion, driven by Rogers, did not try to hit Burns, who was standing behind his patrol vehicle and shielded from harm, the AP reported. The report also pointed to the lack of information Burns had going into the scene as a reason his actions were deemed unjustified.
“You attempted to conduct an investigatory stop of the driver of this vehicle without having reasonable suspicion that the driver had engaged in, or was about to engage in criminal activity,” an investigator told Burns, according to CBS 46.
“The force used was ruled excessive because there was no obvious threat made toward the officer,” Sgt. Warren Pickard, an Atlanta Police Department spokesman, told the AJC.
Through it all, Burns has maintained his innocence.
His attorney, Drew Findley, told 11Alive News that the officer had to make a “two-second” decision and that his actions were justified.
Rogers’s parents, Deravis Thomas and Melva Rogers, released a statement after the indictment Wednesday thanking the District Attorney’s Office.
“We are very pleased with this outcome and though nothing can bring our son back, we know this is a powerful first step,” the statement said.
Melva Rogers has also filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Burns, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner and the city, alleging that her son’s civil rights were violated and demanding the department make changes in its training regimen for officers when it comes to use of force.
Anne Torres, a city spokeswoman, told the AP that Chief Turner acted swiftly when he fired Burns, which demonstrates the high standards he has for his officers. She added the city’s legal team will provide a strong defense for the city and chief. Findley, Burns’s attorney, told the AP he believes the lawsuit and criminal charges were premature and unfounded.
Rogers had a criminal record, including three arrests on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful entrance of an automobile, reported CBS 46. His parents say his past does not justify his death.
“Was he a perfect kid? No. No kid is,” Thomas told CBS 46. “But he definitely didn’t wake up that day to be shot in the head and killed by a police officer on a suspicion of something.”
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