Protesters Fatally Shoot 8-Year-Old Girl At Roadblock Near Rayshard Brooks Shooting Scene

Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told protesters to clear out of the area around the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was shot after armed protesters blocking the street fatally shot an eight-year-old girl in a car with her mother on Saturday night.

The incident occurred just before 10 p.m. on July 4 near the 1200-block of Pryor Road, WAGA reported.

Police said that eight-year-old Secoriea Turner was in the car with her mother and an adult male friend when they got off the freeway onto University Avenue by the Wendy’s where Brooks was killed.

The driver told police he tried to enter the parking lot of a package store but was confronted by a group of armed protesters, WAGA reported.

Authorities said violent protesters had been setting up illegal barricades around the Wendy’s.

At least two men opened fire on the vehicle and Secoriea was fatally shot, WAGA reported.

They headed straight for the hospital with the wounded child in the car and were met by police when they arrived.

Secoriea was rushed into the emergency room for treatment but died at the hospital, WAGA reported.

This is Secoriea Turner.

The 8yo was shot as she and her mom tried parking in a liquor store lot, near armed civilians’ barricades around the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed.

Her family is pleading for help to bring her justice.

Info? @StopCrimeATL@FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/vV4cZZyOVq

— Emilie Ikeda (@EmilieIkedaFOX5) July 5, 2020

Authorities said they knew about the barricades and Atlanta police had planned to go deal with them but got swamped by other more pressing 911 calls.

Residents have been complaining about armed activists taking over the area for weeks with illegal roadblocks.

Twenty-eight people were shot in Atlanta in less than 24 hours, and four have died, including the eight year old, WXIA reported.

In one incident, 14 people were gunned down while watching a fireworks display on Auburn Avenue.

Three more people were shot within blocks of the Wendy’s on Sunday night, WXIA reported.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that it was time for the protesters around the Wendy’s to disperse at a press conference on Sunday, WAGA reported.

“Now we are demanding action for Secoriea Turner, and all other people who were shot in Atlanta last night,” Bottoms told reporters on July 5. “Enough is enough. If you want people to take us seriously and you don’t want us to lose this movement, we can’t lose each other.”

“We’re doing each other more harm than any police officer on this force,” the mayor said. “We’ve had over 75 shootings in the city over the past several weeks. You can’t blame that on APD.”

Violent protesters, many of them armed, took over the area around the fast food restaurant after an officer-involved shooting left the Brooks dead.

Crime has skyrocketed in city since large numbers of Atlanta police officers began calling in sick after former Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe was charged with Brooks’ murder.

Former Officer Rolfe surrendered to the authorities on charges that included felony murder on June 18 and was released on $500,000 bond on June 30.

The other officer involved in the incident, Atlanta Police Officer Devin Brosnan, also turned himself in the same day but was quickly released on a $50,000 signature bond.

The shooting occurred after officers responded to a call for a man asleep in the Wendy’s drive-thru late on June 12.

Officers administered a field sobriety test and established probable cause to arrest Brooks, but when they went to put the suspect in handcuffs, the previously-calm man attacked them.

Brooks stole Officer Brosnan’s Taser, tased the officer, and then fled with the weapon in hand.

Officer Rolfe pursued Brooks on foot with his own Taser in hand, until Brooks turned back and fired his Taser at Officer Rolfe.

That’s when Officer Rolfe dropped his Taser, drew his pistol, and fatally shot Brooks.

Anti-police protests began around the Wendy’s almost immediately after the incident.

The Wendy’s was set on fire and burned to the ground the next night by Natalie White, a woman believed to have been Brooks’ girlfriend.