Name: Atlanta officers fired after AUC students tased, pulled from car Saturday night
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Atlanta officers fired after AUC students tased, pulled from car Saturday night

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You are the owner of this article.Welcome,Second angle of couple tased and dragged from car Saturday nightATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) -- Two Atlanta police officers who tased and pulled two Atlanta University Center students from a car on Saturday night have been terminated.Three other officers were placed on desk duty pending further investigation. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made the announcement during a press conference on Sunday.&nbsp;"After review of that footage, Chief Shields and I have made the determination that two of the officers involved in the incident last night will be terminated immediately. The other three officers are, right now, on desk duty pending further determination of what, if any, appropriate disciplinary action should be taken against them," the mayor said.Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields also spoke at the press conference, echoing the mayor's comments. Shields started by commending the Atlanta Police Department and other law enforcement agencies on the job they've done thus far, acknowledging the challenges they've faced.&nbsp;"We have been handed an enormous obstacle and have by and large, done it as well as we could in the space that we're being afforded," Shields said. "It's an unpleasant space to be in but that does not relieve us of our responsibilities. And we have a responsibility, when we handle any incident, to not escalate the incident and not cause further harm or injury."CBS46 cameras were rolling as Messiah Young, 22, and Teniyah Pilgrim, 20, were taken into custody after 9 p.m. Saturday night. Young is a student at Morehouse College, and Pilgrim attends Spelman College.The couple was leaving the protest at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in their car at the time. The video shows police smashing the driver's side window, opening the passenger side door, and tasing the couple before pulling them from the vehicle.&nbsp;Pilgrim was detained and later released at the scene without charges. Young was taken to Grady hospital and released Sunday morning. He was initially charged with fleeing the scene and driving with an expired license, but those charges were dropped.Mayor Bottoms said one officer was on the Atlanta police force for 16 years -- and the other for 20 years. Chief Shields said she's worked directly with one of those officers for a number of years.&nbsp;CBS46 reviewed bodycam footage obtained Sunday night. Officer Lonnie Hood is identified as the officer who broke the window and tased Young, the driver. Officer Mark Gardner tased Pilgram, the female passenger.All Body Cam Video provided to CBS46 by Atlanta Police On the video, Hood approaches the car and tells the couple to keep moving. They were stopped in traffic. Another officer opens the door and tries to grab Young, who drives off and closes the door. He doesn't get very far because there's traffic in front of him. That's when the officers started beating on the window.In a report filed by Officer Gardner, he said officers were attempting to secure Young and Pilgrim. He said he approached the passenger side and gave verbal commands to Pilgrim to "show her hands and stop resisting." Then, Gardner says he heard other officers shout "gun." Gardner said he couldn't see the hands of the passenger, so that's when he tased her."I was not sure if she or the male driver was the one suspected of possessing the handgun. I served in a back up roll to officers that were making the arrest based on a traffic stop. My purpose for deploying my taser was to bring the female under control for which the officer I was assisting was making an arrest. I did not witness the initial traffic violation or crime under which she or her male companion were being investigated," Gardner said in his report.&nbsp;Spelman SGA stands in solidarity with Taniyah Pilgrim and Messiah Young. We will continue to keep you updated. Please take care of your mental health tonight, AUC family. — Spelman College SGA (@SpelmanSGA) Morehouse College released this statement on Sunday:&nbsp;Morehouse College respects and supports the right of peaceful protest, and we expect that our students will be protected as they exercise that right.While we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, we echo the call for justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.Copyright 2020 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.×××I'm not going to say anything with any specificity in this comment beyond mentioning the through sense of disappointment that I'm experiencing in the fact that the credits for this story do not include ANY of the people who were even there.Where is the name of the Camera People who shot the Video and the Other members of the crew who were actually standing on that curb when this happened?Terribly pleased with this story. But I am quite displeased with how it's been displayed; failing to give the credit to the people who do the work.Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.© Copyright 2020 (A Meredith Corporation Station), 425 14th Street NW Atlanta, GA&nbsp;| &nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .

You are the owner of this article.Welcome,Second angle of couple tased and dragged from car Saturday nightATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) -- Two Atlanta police officers who tased and pulled two Atlanta University Center students from a car on Saturday night have been terminated.Three other officers were placed on desk duty pending further investigation. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made the announcement during a press conference on Sunday.&nbsp;"After review of that footage, Chief Shields and I have made the determination that two of the officers involved in the incident last night will be terminated...

Atlanta officers fired after AUC students tased, pulled from car Saturday night

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