Elizabeth City, NC – According to WITN, a man was shot dead by a Pasquotank County deputy on Wednesday morning during an execution of a search warrant in Elizabeth City.
Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten said deputies were conducting a search of the 400 block of Perry Street around 8:30 a.m.
The man was identified by Wooten as Andrew Brown Jr. 40-year-old.
Relatives also said that Brown was not known to have a gun or to be a “violent person.”
Brown’s aunt Glenda Thomas said he was known to the police for drug-related charges.
“You know, with the troubles he’s been through, they knew Andrew Brown Jr. They knew his dad, I’m sure. So why would you shoot and kill him? Then I understand they shot him in the back. “Why would you do that? If you had a warrant for his arrest and he decides to run, you can always go back to his house later to pick him up,” said Brown’s Aunt Glenda Thomas.
Thomas said Brown was in his 40s and had several children.
He loved his family and his smile would brighten the house, “described Thomas.” If his kids wanted something, he would buy it for them. “
Officials said that during the execution of the search warrant, Brown, who was the focus of the warrant, was shot and killed.
Wooten said the deputy involved in the shooting has been given administrative leave while the State Bureau of Investigation watches the shooting, a standard practice when a law enforcement officer fires a weapon.
During a press conference on the shooting Wednesday afternoon, Wooten said that delegates were wearing body cameras and were active during the shooting.
He added that law enforcement was in the process of releasing the camera footage of the body of the shooting.
Now residents of Elizabeth City are demanding answers.
WITN reported that a crowd of people had gathered at the scene of the shooting and demanded to know what had happened Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday evening, about 100 protesters blocked the streets for an emergency city council meeting demanding that the sheriff tell them what had happened.
“We don’t leave until we have some cooperation until we have some transparency. What are you hiding? There was camera footage of the body. Tell the community,” said Keith Rivers of the NAACP in North Carolina.
“Aside from blocking roads, we haven’t broken any laws, but we do want answers and justice. The sheriff must come out here,” said a protester who did not want to be identified.
Brown’s relatives said that while they are grieving, they have many questions and very few answers.
“The life he lived, he still had it in his heart to do things for his family,” said Thomas.