Body camera video shows officer using stun gun on Atlanta deacon who later died

Body camera video was released Wednesday showing the moment a former Atlanta police officer used a stun gun on Johnny Hollman, a 62-year-old church deacon who died following the Aug. 10 encounter.

The video was made public at the request of his family, who viewed it in September. Arnitra Fallins, Hollman’s daughter, previously told NBC News that the footage was “very disturbing” and she became physically ill while watching it. Her father had called her during the fatal encounter.

Mayor Andre Dickens said the video would be “difficult to watch.”

In the footage, Hollman attempts to explain to Officer Kiran Kimbrough that he was making a left turn when another vehicle ran into his pickup truck. Hollman says he did nothing wrong. The situation escalates, the video shows, when Hollman initially refuses to sign a citation.

A struggle ensues and Kimbrough takes Hollman to the ground, uses a stun gun on him and then handcuffs Hollman behind his back, according to the video. Kimbrough requests EMS when he realizes that Hollman is unresponsive.

Hollman was later pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy determined the manner of death was a homicide, with the medical examiner saying heart disease was a contributing factor.

Johnny Hollman Sr.Arnitra Hallman / Davis Bozeman Johnson Law via AP

Hollman’s family has said that he called the police after he got into a minor traffic accident while driving home from Bible study at a daughter’s house.

The Atlanta Police Department said in their initial statement that Hollman became “agitated and uncooperative” when the officer found him to be the at-fault driver and issued him a citation.

The video shows Kimbrough asking Hollman several times to sign the citation. In the footage, Hollman pulls out his phone. Attorney Mawuli Davis, who is representing Hollman’s family, said Hollman was calling Fallins.

As Hollman appears to dial his daughter’s number, Kimbrough grabs him.

“Okay, I’m going to sign the ticket,” Hollman says as a struggle ensues and Hollman is taken to the ground and placed on his stomach.

Davis alleged that Kimbrough did a leg sweep, causing Hollman to fall to the ground. That could not be seen in the video.

While Hollman is on the ground, the officer yells for him to “sign the ticket” and “put your arms behind your back.” Hollman is heard screaming for help and repeatedly saying he could not breathe.

Davis said they counted Hollman say “I can’t breathe” as many as 16 times. Fallins, who was driving to the scene, said she could hear her father through the phone screaming for help.

The video shows Kimbrough using his stun gun on Hollman and then yelling for Hollman to put his hands behind his back. Hollman is not saying anything and does not appear to be moving, the footage shows.

In the video, Kimbrough tells responding officers that he struck Hollman several times when Hollman allegedly tried to grab him.

“I took him to the ground and stuff and he started grabbing my hand like he was finna hit me so I punched him a couple of times, tased him, put him in cuffs,” the officer is heard saying. “I don’t know what’s going on with him now. He’s still breathing though.”

Attorney Davis has said that Kimbrough “escalated the situation,” calling his actions “unreasonable and illegal.”

Kimbrough was fired by the Atlanta Police Department last month because he did not follow standard operating procedures. The department said Wednesday that a physical arrest for refusal to sign a citation must be approved by an on-scene supervisor.

Following the fatal incident, the police department made several changes including revising its standard operating procedures regarding traffic citations and allowing officers to write “refusal to sign” instead of making an arrest, according to the mayor’s office, which said it instructed the police department to “conduct a top-to-bottom review” of the incident and its policies.

The incident remains under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Minyvonne Burke

Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News.