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District Attorney Andrew Womble said Tuesday that the deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. last month were justified in using deadly force, citing a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation probe.
Womble said the shooting, "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."
Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies in Elizabeth City on April 21 when they attempted to serve him with an arrest warrant, according to the sheriff's office.
A source with knowledge told CNN that the Brown family has not received any advanced information on the findings.
Womble, the district attorney for Pasquotank and nearby counties, has said Brown's moving vehicle made contact with law enforcement officers twice before the deputies opened fire. But the Brown family and their attorneys, who have watched body-camera and dash-cam videos of the shooting, say Brown was not a threat to the officers.
"It was absolutely, unequivocally unjustified," attorney Chance Lynch said last week. "Our legal team is more committed now to pursue justice ... because what we saw today was unconstitutional and it was unjustifiable."
A copy of Brown's death certificate says he died as a result of a gunshot wound of the head, and an autopsy commissioned by Brown's family specified the shot was to the back of his head.
The killing led to protests in Elizabeth City against police violence and the authorities' lack of transparency.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten put seven deputies on administrative leave. He has since reinstated four deputies he said did not fire their weapons. The three who did fire remain on leave.
Members of Brown's family were allowed by a court order to view some body camera footage of his death, but they and members of the community have called for the public release of the videos.
Womble said the shooting, "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."
Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies in Elizabeth City on April 21 when they attempted to serve him with an arrest warrant, according to the sheriff's office.
A source with knowledge told CNN that the Brown family has not received any advanced information on the findings.
Womble, the district attorney for Pasquotank and nearby counties, has said Brown's moving vehicle made contact with law enforcement officers twice before the deputies opened fire. But the Brown family and their attorneys, who have watched body-camera and dash-cam videos of the shooting, say Brown was not a threat to the officers.
"It was absolutely, unequivocally unjustified," attorney Chance Lynch said last week. "Our legal team is more committed now to pursue justice ... because what we saw today was unconstitutional and it was unjustifiable."
A copy of Brown's death certificate says he died as a result of a gunshot wound of the head, and an autopsy commissioned by Brown's family specified the shot was to the back of his head.
The killing led to protests in Elizabeth City against police violence and the authorities' lack of transparency.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten put seven deputies on administrative leave. He has since reinstated four deputies he said did not fire their weapons. The three who did fire remain on leave.
Members of Brown's family were allowed by a court order to view some body camera footage of his death, but they and members of the community have called for the public release of the videos.