DA on Tuesday will discuss the SBI’s findings on fatal shooting death of Andrew Brown
Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble will hold a news conference on Tuesday in Elizabeth City to discuss the state’s investigation of the April 21 police shooting of Andew Brown Jr.
Womble issued a release Monday saying the news conference will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the county’s public safety building.
Brown died after being shot by sheriff’s deputies who came to his house to serve drug-related warrants. A pathologist hired by Brown’s family said he was hit by at least five bullets, the fatal one being a shot fired into his head from behind.
Brown was trying to flee in his car when he was shot.
The shooting sparked peaceful but persistent protests in the city that have drawn local residents and activists from across the state and beyond. Protesters have demanded that Brown’s family and the public be allowed to view footage from body cameras and a police vehicle’s dash camera that recorded events that morning. So far, the family has seen only a small fraction of the footage under a judge’s order.
It’s customary in North Carolina for the State Bureau of Investigation to look into shootings by law enforcement. The agency then turns over its findings to the local district attorney to determine whether charges are warranted.
In a tweet on April 28, a week after the shooting, SBI Director Robert L. Shurmeier promised that “the full resources of the NC SBI are being utilized to pursue an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the matter of Mr. Brown’s death. The family, the community, and all impacted by this event deserve no less,” he wrote.
This story was originally published May 17, 2021 at 4:48 PM.
