BLUE FLU: Cops call in sick after felony murder charge brought against officer who shot Rayshard Brooks

A significant number of police officers within the Atlanta Police Department (APD) fell ill with the "blue flu" Wednesday evening after learning of the felony murder charge being brought against the officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks outside of a Wendy's last Friday.

Seth Weathers took to Twitter early Wednesday night to confirm that 20 to 30 officers had come down with the "blue flu" in zones 3 and 6 of Atlanta, which was about half the entire shift that was to be on duty.

An hour after Weathers had confirmed that a significant number of officers did not show up for duty, the Atlanta Police Department tweeted: "Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate. The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents."

Several people responded to APD's tweet, saying they were listening to the police scanner in zones 5 and 6, hearing virtually nothing but silence.

Approximately 20 minutes before the APD tweeted that officers not showing up was inaccurate, Jonny Jones received a text from an APD officer, saying : "I can confirm the walk-off is real. Whole shifts have left and overnight shifts are refusing to come in."

The officers staged a walkout after Garrett Rolfe, 27, was charged with felony murder after fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks outside of a Wendy's Friday evening. The charge could come with the death penalty.

The dispute began when officers received a call about a man who had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his car in a Wendy's drive-thru, forcing customers to drive around.

After the police arrived and administered a breathalyzer test to Brooks—who failed—they tried to take him into custody but he refused arrest, and instead wrestled the officers to the ground, punched one of the officer's in the head, stole one of their Tazer's, and took off running.

When one of the officers—Rolfe—gave chase, Brooks turned around and aimed the Tazer at him, which is when Rolfe shot him twice.

The result is that portions of Atlanta were left vulnerable due to the lack of officers on duty Wednesday evening.

And here:

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has risen to the vice president shortlist as the election nears, but her response and action in the Brooks case could make all the difference.

Bottoms said that the Atlanta Police Department's moral is "down tenfold" falling the charges brought against Rolfe, but it has yet to be seen how she plans to take action amid the outrage from both sides of the political aisle concerning shooting deaths by police officers.

In addition, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned on June 13 amid the death of Brooks after the NAACP pressured her to resign, saying: "It’s time for new leadership and a change of policing culture. Stand with us and call for her immediate resignation."

It is still unclear whether officers will continue to stage walkouts after learning one of their own is facing the death penalty for protecting him and his partner.