Updated May 18, 2021 at 5:19 PM ET
District Attorney Andrew Womble has declined to file charges against Pasquotank County, N.C., sheriff s deputies in the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. last month in Elizabeth City. His decision followed an inquiry by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, which presented its findings to the prosecutor.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Womble said Brown s shooting by three deputies was tragic but justified, because law enforcement officers reasonably believed they were in danger.
Brown, 42, was shot and killed in his car by deputies as they arrived to carry out warrants in drug-related charges in Elizabeth City on April 21. He was killed a day after a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder in George Floyd s killing.
North Carolina sheriff s deputies justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr., DA says David K. Li and Antonio Planas and Natalie Obregon and Jamie Morrison and Emma Thorne and Anthony Cusumano
North Carolina sheriff s deputies were justified in fatally shooting a Black man during an attempted arrest last month and no charges will be filed against law enforcement, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Andrew Brown Jr., 42, was killed while behind the wheel of his car on April 21 in Elizabeth City as Pasquotank County sheriff s deputies were serving a warrant for his arreston felony drug charges.
District Attorney Andrew Womble said Brown s shooting death, while tragic, was justified due to his actions.
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(ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.) No charges will be filed against North Carolina sheriff’s deputies involved in the fatal April shooting of Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old Black man whose family claims he was “executed” as he sat in his car.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina, District Attorney Andrew Womble said at a news conference on Tuesday morning that the three deputies who opened fire on Brown, a father of seven, were justified in their use of deadly force because Brown drove his vehicle toward them and allegedly made contact with them twice before they fired their weapons. Womble said he made his decision based on the results of an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Three deputies who fired shots at Andrew Brown Jr. will be reinstated and retrained, sheriff says
District Attorney Andrew Womble announced Tuesday that the deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. last month were justified in using deadly force, saying Brown “recklessly” drove at the officers on scene while trying to flee arrest.
“Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others,” Womble said.
The three deputies who fired at Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, will be also be reinstated and retrained, Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten said Tuesday. Wooten announced disciplinary action would be taken against the deputies that responded to the scene.
District Attorney says deputies were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr.
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District Attorney Andrew Womble announced Tuesday that the deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. last month were justified in using deadly force, saying Brown “recklessly” drove at the officers on scene while trying to flee arrest.
“Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others,” Womble said.
In response, attorneys for the family of Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, called the decision not to charge the officers an “insult and a slap in the face.”