Atlanta police bodycam of a 2022 shooting that killed Nygil Cullins at Fogo De Chao restaurant

It’s been two years since a 22-year-old was shot and killed by Atlanta police officers at the Fogo De Chao restaurant in Buckhead, and on Monday, a bodycam video was released showing what occurred that night.

For more than two years, family members of Nygil Cullins have stood by their side of the story that their son was having a mental health crisis and was not posing a threat to people in the restaurant.

However, police say Cullins was armed with a gun, refused to leave, and allegedly shot a security guard, prompting police to shoot and kill Cullins.

In the police body camera video, you can see officers walk up to Cullins, who is sitting at the bar with a gun in his waistband. Cullins puts his hands up and then police rush him to the ground and tell him to keep his hands off the gun and put his hands on his head.

It appears from the video that Cullins grabs his gun while he’s being tased by officers.

The Atlanta Police Department froze the video and added a red circle around what appears to be the gun in Cullins’ hand. Shortly after being tased, Cullins gets up and starts running through the restaurant, gun in hand, and is tackled at the door by a security guard, the video shows.

Right after Cullins is tackled to the ground by the security guard, a gunshot is heard. Police say the gunshot was fired from Cullins’ gun at the security guard.

It is unclear who fired first from the video.

An officer then shoots Cullins six times.

Cullins puts his hand by his side where the gun is on the floor beside him, and the police shoot Cullins five more times. Cullins died shortly after.

In several other surveillance videos previously released to Atlanta News First, Cullins is shown being disruptive toward staff and patrons.

Cullins’ family released this statement after the video was released Monday:

“The family hopes this marks the first step towards transparency by the Atlanta police. After a two-year struggle, they believe this tape will help clear Nygil Cullins’s name and initiate the process of seeking justice and accountability from the Atlanta police.”

They said they plan to release more on what the next steps are during a news conference on Tuesday.

Cullins’ family has filed a lawsuit against police and others. The lawsuit filed by his parents a few weeks ago states he was legally carrying a handgun at the time he was killed.

Cullins’ parents have been fighting to clear their son’s name since he was killed. In the recently filed lawsuit, his parents reiterate that he did not pose a threat to anyone, and they want justice and transparency.

The Cullins family alleges the restaurant security guard falsely claimed Nygil was a physical threat, which eventually led to officers shooting and killing him. They’re now suing the Atlanta police officers who killed him, along with the city, the restaurant, its security guard and the company he worked for.

The family is claiming an inappropriate use of deadly force, negligence, and civil rights violations.