Memphis Witness in Atlanta Police Shooting

Two Memphis men, Melvin Evans and Michael Perkins, witnessed the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks by police in Atlanta last week. The Memphis witness in the Atlanta police shooting said his car was hit by officer's bullet.

“I’m from Memphis," Perkins, 35, told reporters Thursday. "We come to Atlanta to try to conquer our dreams, not witness no murders.”

Perkins said he was in the back passenger seat of Evans' new white Trailblazer the night of Brooks' death. They were the last car in the drive thru line.

Officers fired three shots that Perkins and Evan heard: They read that two struck Brooks, and a third, Evans and Perkins later learned after getting back to the Atlanta studio, struck the back of the car, where Perkins was ducking under the seat. He didn't realize how close he was to being a shooting victim himself, he said.

“My mother really made me think about it," Perkins said. "I’m my momma’s only child."

Perkins said he "called it" when he heard officers tell Brooks to "stop fighting and start resisting." He said he told Evans, who was driving the car, that officers may kill Brooks.

"I was trying to laugh it off, but it actually happened," he said.

Perkins told reporters he has witnessed a murder before, but not by police.

"Murders happen like water in Memphis," he said. "Memphis tough."

Brooks was shot by officer Garrett Rolfe on Friday night in the fast-food restaurant's parking lot after police responded to a call about Brooks being asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane.

For more information, please check out the full article from the Commercial Appeal.