ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City last month was justified and the three deputies involved will not be charged, a North Carolina district attorney said Tuesday.
The deputies felt threatened by Brown as he backed his car in his driveway and then sped forward, at first toward deputies and then across a vacant lot, District Attorney Andrew Womble said in a news conference.
One deputy holding the driver’s door handle was yanked toward the car causing part of his body to be pulled onto the hood, Womble said.
Womble showed still photos and clips from the body-worn camera videos as he revealed his findings to about 40 media members in the Pasquotank County Public Safety building.
“If the first shot is justified, the last shot is justified until the threat is cleared,” Womble said.
In all, 14 shots were fired from Glock handguns and an AR-15 rifle by three different deputies. The fatal shot hit Brown in the back of the head.
Brown was hit twice by deputies, not five times, as was reported in early accounts, Womble said. The other marks on his body were from shrapnel, he said, based on a report from the medical examiner.
Deputies were attempting to serve search and arrest warrants at his Elizabeth City home on April 21.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. The FBI is also investigating the shooting separately.
Brown’s family watched about 20 minutes of nearly two hours of bodycam video of the the incident and contended the shooting wasn’t justified. The video only showed the parts that included Brown.
