ELIZABETH CITY, NC (AP) – A North Carolina deputy shot and killed a black man while executing a search warrant Wednesday, authorities said.
The Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputy was placed on leave pending an assessment by the State Bureau of Investigation, Sheriff Tommy Wooten II said at a news conference. He said Deputy Andrew Brown Jr. around 8:30 a.m. while serving command in Elizabeth City, a town of about 18,000 people 170 miles (274 km) northeast of Raleigh. Local NAACP leader Keith Rivers said Brown was black.
Wooten did not identify the deputy or say what the order was for. Court records show that Brown was 42 years old and had a history of drug possession and a drug possession conviction.
The deputy was carrying a camera with an active body at the time of the shooting, said Wooten, who declined to say how many shots the deputy fired or released other details, citing an ongoing assessment by the State Investigation Bureau. WAVY-TV reported that neighbors heard multiple shots. A car removed from the scene was found to have multiple bullet holes and a broken rear window.
Among the approximately 100 people who gathered at the scene of the shooting was Rivers, president of the NAACP’s Pasquotank County chapter, who criticized the sheriff’s office for taking hours to release details.
“When is it going to stop? We just got a verdict yesterday,” Rivers said in a telephone interview, referring to the guilty verdicts handed down on Tuesday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. “Is it open season now? At some point it has to stop. We have to start holding people accountable.”
Brown’s grandmother, Lydia Brown, and his aunt, Clarissa Brown Gibson, told The Associated Press that they heard about his death through a TV news report. Both said they wanted the shooting to be thoroughly investigated.
“I’m very sad. Andrew was a good person,” said Lydia Brown. The deputy “didn’t have to shoot him like that.”
Clarissa Brown Gibson said, “We want to know if he got an arrest warrant, why was an arrest warrant fired?”
At an emergency city council meeting, City Councilman Gabriel Adkins told his colleagues that businesses near the shooting had their windows boarded up in anticipation of violence.
“I’m scared like a black man,” said an emotional Adkins, as a crowd of over 100 gathered outside the gathering, which has been closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic. He later added, ‘It hurts to be a black man right now. … We are in pain. ”
Councilor Darius Horton called for the immediate release of bodycam footage, the search warrant and a quick explanation of what led to the shooting.
“We need transparency. And we not only need transparency, but we also need accountability, ”he said. ‘We need answers. … Let’s not hide behind anything. “
The State Bureau of Investigation will pass the findings of its review to District Attorney Andrew Womble, who promised to conduct a thorough and considered investigation.
“What we’re looking for right now is accurate answers, not quick answers,” Womble told the press conference. ‘We are waiting for the full and complete investigation … and we will review that and make any decisions we deem appropriate at the time. This will not be a rash judgment. “
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This story has been edited to remove an incorrect reference to George Floyd’s death.
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Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia.