Man fatally shot by Roxboro police appears to point gun at officer, video shows

The man killed by a Roxboro police officer Friday appears to have pointed a gun at the officer before he was fatally shot minutes later, dash-camera footage from the officer’s car shows.

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

The video released Wednesday shows police driving past the store, then driving past Brooks on the other side of the street.

The car made a U-turn and stopped in front of Brooks, who was holding a yellow bag and a gun.

At least one officer asked Brooks to drop the gun twice.

After Brooks raised the gun, an officer shot Brooks once with a shotgun.

Police found a loaded, sawed-off shotgun at the scene that did not belong to the Police Department, Police Chief David Hess said Friday. It is considered a “weapon of mass destruction” and is not legal in North Carolina.

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

Superior Court Judge Cynthia K. Sturges allowed the release of the video after Person County District Attorney Mike Waters and Assistant District Attorney Hollie McAdams petitioned for its release.

Two veteran police officers have been placed on administrative leave with pay, Hess said Friday, but he would not name the officers. Neither officer was injured in the incident.

Officers told man to drop the gun

“Hey bro, drop the gun,” one of the officers says after getting out of his car, the video shows.

“Drop the gun,” he repeats.

After Brooks brings his second hand to the gun and raises it, an officer fires a round seconds after getting out of his car.

“Hey man, you good?” the officer asks, with Brooks on the ground. “Stay still. Stay still,” he says as Brooks begins shaking. Two more police cars pull up.

“Go ahead and send EMS emergency traffic,” the officer who shot Brooks says into the police radio. “Go ahead and shake him down real fast and start giving him aid.”

“Brooks, Brooks, stay with me. Stay with us, Mr. Brooks,” the officer says after they pat him down.

“He pointed the (expletive) gun at me,” the officer says in the video. “I went by, he was trying to hide it. I circled back around, turned my lights off, I got out my shotgun, I said, ‘Hey, drop your gun.’ Soon as I did, he started going like that and I shot him, pulled the trigger,” the officer tells another officer.

Officers started providing first aid three minutes after Brooks was shot. The officer who shot Brooks said the shooting was all on camera, according to the video.

In a news release Wednesday, Waters said the video and gun found at the scene will be analyzed in a state laboratory as part of the State Bureau of Investigation’s review of the shooting, a standard procedure in shootings by police. That analysis could take several weeks.

Water said he will wait for the SBI’s report to rule on whether the officer’s use of force was appropriate.

This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 4:26 PM.