Atlanta police issue arrest warrant for Rayshard Brooks' 'girlfriend', 29, for burning down the Wendy's where he was shot and killed by cops
The woman who is wanted for setting fire to a Wendy's in Atlanta after the fatal police shooting of Rayshard Brooks last week may be his girlfriend.
Investigators said Saturday they have issued an arrest warrant for 29-year-old Natalie White.
White is a suspect in the arson and investigators are asking for help finding her, Atlanta Fire and Rescue said in a Twitter post.
The post included surveillance pictures of White, 29, in a store, but no additional identifying information.
Several people are suspected of trying to set fires in the restaurant before the blaze finally spread, fire officials said.
Atlanta authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Natalie White, 29, who is alleged to have set fire to a Wendy's after the police fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta last week
On the night of the shooting, a woman who appears to match the description of White is seen trying to set the restaurant on fire
Moments before he is shot, Brooks (left) is heard telling police officers that he was meeting his girlfriend who goes by the name Natalie White
The above image from Wednesday shows an aerial shot of the Wendy's after it was destroyed
Video footage from that night showed a woman who bears a resemblance to White appearing to attempt to light the fast food restaurant on fire after it had been vandalized.
In body cam footage taken by police officers moments before the shooting of Brooks, he mentions meeting his girlfriend who goes by the name Natalie White.
Brooks told officers that he had just had drinks with White.
Police are investigating if there is a link between the alleged arsonist, White, and Brooks, according to CNN.
Brooks' widow, Tomika Miller, 26, has been giving interviews to national media in recent days after Fulton County prosecutors charged the two officers involved in the shooting.
Rayshard Brooks' widow Tomika Miller, 26, told NBC's Today on Thursday that while she was relieved that the officers involved in her husband's shooting had been charged, nothing would bring her husband back
Miller called for the officers to be charged and said on Monday that it would take a 'long time' for their family to heal. She spoke while holding one of his three daughters
Brooks is pictured with wife Tomika Miller and his three daughters. She said she now feels like a 'statistic' having been rendered a single black mother by the cops' killing her husband
Brooks is survived by Miller, three daughters, and a stepson.
Miller told NBC's Today on Thursday that while she was relieved that the officers had been charged, she was also upset that nothing would bring her husband back.
'I'm glad about the charges but I want to see them go through,' she said.
'No matter how many charges they face, it's not going to bring him back.
'It's very emotional. Father's Day is coming up and all I can keep thinking about is my husband won't be here.
'There's not gonna be a day where I see him walk through the door or laughing with his kids again.'
In the aftermath of Brooks' shooting, demonstrators threw bricks and rocks at firefighters as they tried to get to the restaurant, and they couldn't start fighting the blaze until it had destroyed the building, Atlanta Fire Chief Randall Slaughter has said.
Atlanta police officers were called to the Wendy's on June 12 over complaints of a car blocking the drive-thru lane.
Officers found Brooks asleep in the car.
The officers spoke to Brooks, who was Black, for more than 40 minutes, but things quickly turned violent when they tried to handcuff him, according to body camera video.
Brooks is survived by his wife, Miller; three daughters; and a stepson
An autopsy found Brooks was shot twice in the back.
Garrett Rolfe was fired from the police department immediately after the shooting and is charged with felony murder.
The 27-year-old Rolfe is white.
Rolfe was involved in another shooting five years ago that left a man with a punctured lung, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Saturday.
Citing court documents, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the older case was investigated by Atlanta police and turned over to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, who cleared the officers involved - including Rolfe - in February.
A judge on Friday denied bond for the 27-year-old Rolfe, who has been charged with felony murder and other crimes after fatally shooting Brooks in the back outside of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta after Brooks fired a stun gun in his direction.
The 2015 shooting was not mentioned in the original incident report or in documents made available to the court-appointed attorney for the man who had been shot, Jackie Harris, the newspaper reported.
Harris, a 40-year-old black man, was fleeing from police after he was spotted driving a stolen truck, according to records.
He eventually crashed into a gas meter and twice ran into a parked police car.
Atlanta Police Capt. Michael O´Connor was quoted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time saying that Harris could have struck officers with the vehicle he was driving so they 'fired their weapons to stop what they viewed as the threat of the truck that was coming at them.'
Harris was unarmed but O'Connor said he had a weapon - 'a 3,000 pound pickup truck.'
In a letter to the court, Harris said he was shot at numerous times by the officers, and was hit once in the back.
Harris' attorney, Serena Nunn, said five shots were fired in all - three from Rolfe´s service weapon.
Harris' legal team argued he didn't drive into the other cars until after he had been shot and called into question O´Connor´s claim in the newspaper that the officers shot in self-defense.
One year after Harris' shooting, Rolfe received a written reprimand for violating the department's use of firearm policy during a separate incident.
Atlanta police officer Garret Rolfe, 27, (left) was charged on Wednesday on 11 counts including felony murder over Rayshard's shooting death last week in a Wendy's parking lot. Devin Brosnan (right), the other officer on the scene, was charged with aggravated assault and violations of his oath of office
One year after Harris' shooting, Rolfe received a written reprimand for violating the department's use of firearm policy during a separate incident.
In the September 2016 incident, Rolfe told investigators he was in the passenger seat of a patrol car when it pulled up next to the suspects' vehicle during a chase.
He couldn't see into the windows and, based on their flight and his experience with similar cases, he was afraid the occupants might be armed.
He drew his gun to be prepared to conduct a stop and to protect himself if gunfire began, but he didn´t have his finger on the trigger, he said.
The letter of reprimand says he violated a policy that says officers shouldn't point a gun at people unless firing the gun would be justifiable.
He was also cleared of a number of citizen complaints after the department investigated and had a number of minor car wrecks, some his fault, some the fault of the other drivers.
In connection with the shooting death of Brooks on June 12, Rolfe faces charges including felony murder.
A bond hearing in Fulton County Superior Court has been set for Tuesday afternoon.
Another officer has been charged in connection with Brooks' shooting.
Prosecutors say Officer Devin Brosnan stood on Brooks' shoulder as he struggled for his life. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath.
Brosnan's attorney denied the allegation, saying Brosnan briefly pressed his foot on Brooks' arm to make sure he wouldn't reach for his weapon.
Brosnan, who was shot with his own Taser by Brooks, suffered a concussion and was disoriented at the time Brooks was shot, his lawyer said.
Lawyers for both men have said their clients' actions were justified.
Rolfe was fired and Brosnan, 26, is on desk duty. Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down less than 24 hours after Brooks died.
Police said Brosnan, who'd been an officer since February, had no prior discipline records.
Atlanta police issue arrest warrant for Rayshard Brooks' 'girlfriend', 29, for burning down the Wendy's where he was shot and killed by cops
![Atlanta police issue arrest warrant for Rayshard Brooks' 'girlfriend', 29, for burning down the Wendy's where he was shot and killed by cops]()
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