Two more Atlanta officers fired after students pulled from car

Two more Atlanta police officers have been fired over an incident caught on video in which six officers dragged two college students out of a car at gunpoint.

A spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department told the Associated Press that Sgt. Lonnie Hood and Officer Armon Jones have been terminated by the department over their involvement in the May 30 confrontation with students Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim.

The two are among six officers who are facing charges over the incident; Hood faces two charges of aggravated assault and one simple battery charge, while Jones faces a charge of aggravated battery and one charge of pointing a gun at someone unlawfully.

Four others face charges ranging from criminal damage to property to aggravated assault. The firings Wednesday come as two other officers involved in the incident, Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter, were fired the day following the incident.

The remaining two officers, Willie Sauls and Roland Claud, remain on administrative leave, according to the department.

“I feel a little safer now that these monsters are off the street and no longer able to terrorize anyone else,” Young told the Associated Press in an interview last week.

“I’m so happy that they’re being held accountable for their actions,” added Pilgrim.

Police Chief Erika Shields previously said at a joint press conference with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) that video of the incident was “really shocking to watch.”

“Use of excessive force is never acceptable,” the mayor added.

The officers’ firing come as Atlanta and other cities around the country have seen protests against police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

Floyd’s death has sparked calls around the country for reform to police departments and a shift in resources away from law enforcement.