Man killed by Roxboro police was shot once in the chest, NC district attorney says

The Roxboro Police Department officer who fatally shot a man Friday shot him once in the chest, Person County District Attorney Mike Waters stated Monday.

Waters will ask a judge for permission to release police dash camera video related to the shooting after the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation finishes interviewing witnesses, he stated in a news release. Roxboro police officers do not wear body cameras, Police Chief David Hess said in a press conference Friday.

A Roxboro officer fatally shot David Brooks Jr., 45, after responding to a 911 call reporting a person with a gun walking down Old Durham Road, close to a Dollar General Store on Weeks Drive, according to the Police Department.

Officers and paramedics gave Brooks first aid, but he died from the gunshot wound to his chest, the release from Waters stated. The N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed he died from the injury.

Police found a loaded, sawed-off shotgun at the scene after Brooks was shot, Hess said Friday. The shotgun did not belong to the Police Department, he said. The weapon is considered a “weapon of mass destruction” and is not legal in North Carolina.

Neither Waters nor Hess said whether Brooks was carrying or pointing the shotgun at the time of the shooting.

Two veteran officers have been placed on administrative leave with pay, Hess said, but he would not name the officers. No officer was injured in the incident.

Hess also would not say whether both officers fired their guns and how many bullets were fired.

Waters said he will wait for the results of the SBI investigation before deciding whether the police use of force was appropriate.

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 6:21 PM.