Atlanta police release video of deadly 2022 police shooting

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department has released video showing a 22-year-old man fatally shot at a Buckhead restaurant more than two years ago.

Nygil Cullins was killed by responding police officers at Fogo de Chão along Piedmont Road NE – a restaurant he was at – on May 18, 2022. Since that day, his parents and lawyers have been actively fighting for transparency and releasing full, never-before-seen video of what happened that night.

RELATED: “Where Was My Help?” » | Parents of man shot by police at Buckhead restaurant say they called 911 for help with mental health crisis

11Alive previously reported how the family viewed some of the footage themselves and continued to ask for it to be made public.

On Monday, APD released video from the body cameras of the officers involved and video from the restaurant’s surveillance cameras to the public.

Nygil Cullins entered the restaurant’s bar on Piedmont Road shortly before 7 p.m., according to the time stamp on the security footage. The video shows him walking to the last seat at the bar.

Around 7:22 p.m., Nygil was seen on his phone, still sitting at the bar. He remained on the phone until 7:30 p.m. when surveillance showed him walking and attempting to get behind the bar to retrieve a bottle of alcohol.

Security video shows an employee trying to stop him as he walks away. Nygil is seen returning to the end of the bar with the bottle as the employee in question leaves the room. Then, surveillance video shows Nygil returning to his phone.

The surveillance video provided does not contain audio, so it is unclear what exactly was said during the interactions while he was at the bar.

RELATED: 911 calls shed light on moments before police killing man in Fogo de Chão in Buckhead

However, 911 calls released in 2022 provided some insight when a man called police, stating there was a man with a gun at the restaurant. This same man called 911 about 10 minutes later and seemed slightly more agitated.

“He pushed the bartender out of the way, and you know, like I said, ‘He’s got a gun in his… uh… waistband,'” the man said.

The caller said the man did not point the gun at anyone at the time, but was yelling and agitated.

In the surveillance video, around 7:34 p.m., Nygil appears to be chatting with a group of people behind him while he eats. At 7:36 p.m., he walks away from the bar and leaves the frame. About two minutes later he returned.

It appears he spoke with several other people while at the bar, but according to the time stamp on the surveillance video, police didn’t show up until around 7:46 p.m.

Video from the officers’ body camera shows Nygil turning around and standing up as police arrive at the restaurant’s bar. Once standing, the video shows Nygil quickly raise his hands in the air, and a gun can be seen sticking out of his pants, but no gun is in his hands.

The interaction between Nygil and the officers is difficult to see from a body camera perspective. However, Nygil is seen falling to the ground as the officers approach in the video.

As a security guard moves a chair away, body camera video shows the officer raising his gun toward Nygil.

“Stop! Put down your weapon.” the officer can be heard screaming in the body camera video.

Nygil’s hands are raised and no weapons are visible – only the briefcase he is holding.

"Put your hands where I can find them," an officer can be heard saying in the video.

At the same time, Nygil appears to have been Tased.

"Put your hands in the air," said an officer.

In the video, Nygil appears to back away while being Tased. Then the video shows Nygil get up and start running away from the police. The video then shows the officer following Nygil with his gun drawn.

As he flees toward the front door of the restaurant, a gun can be seen in his hand in the video, but it does not appear to be pointed at the officer.

Men, who appear to be security guards, can then be seen grabbing Nygil as he approaches the front door. The video shows Nygil falling to the ground as security attacks him.

There appears to be a fight – what sounds like a gunshot rings out, but it’s hard to tell where the shots were fired from. APD previously said the security guard was injured during the incident and that a gun was visible in the body camera video near the officer.

Immediately afterward, body camera video shows an officer shooting Nygil several times. The 22-year-old’s gun was on the ground next to him while he was on the ground.

Nygil appears to move as he places his hand near the gun on the ground, but it is unclear whether he grabbed it. An officer then fired several more rounds at Nygil in response, according to body camera video.

At this point in the video, Nygil remains on the ground near the door. He will then be declared dead. The entire incident took place around 7:47 p.m., according to restaurant security video.

Nygil Cullins’ parents previously said the fatal shooting was preceded by a mental health episode. His mother, Mya, previously told 11Alive that she went to her son’s apartment and felt he was “not doing well.”

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They called police before Nygil went to the Piedmont Road restaurant and specifically requested someone well-trained to handle mental health episodes. She feared he would be murdered by the police.

“When I called them, I said, ‘He’s an African-American male; please make sure whoever comes in is trained and competent, so when they deal with my son , I don’t have to worry about my son being killed,” she said.

Nygil’s mother previously said she called Riverwood Behavioral Health System ahead of time to make sure they had a bed available and told 911 dispatchers she would follow police to the scene and would complete the paperwork upon arrival.

According to his account, the police took almost two hours to arrive and, when they arrived, they missed Nygil by about 10 minutes. Despite efforts to keep him at the apartment, he had left and eventually made his way to the Buckhead restaurant.

APD said that around 7 p.m. that evening, they were dispatched there regarding an “unruly customer armed with a handgun.” APD said in its video released Monday that the caller indicated the guest was yelling at employees and wanted to drink alcohol.

Based on previously released information, officers encountered Nygil and attempted to escort him. They said he was uncooperative and the encounter escalated into a physical altercation during which the officer deployed a Taser.

APD previously said the Taser was not effective and that Nygil began walking toward the door when he was approached by a security guard. The agency said he then pulled out his gun and fired a bullet that struck the guard. APD said at least one of its officers discharged his weapon and killed Nygil. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was then called in to investigate the shooting and deliver its findings to the district attorney’s office.

In May, the family announced a federal lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, Fogo de Chão, the restaurant’s security team, the security guard and the two APD officers who responded. The federal lawsuits allege that negligence, inadequate training and excessive and deadly force all contributed to the shooting.