District attorney clears Roxboro police officer who fatally shot armed man

The Person County district attorney announced Wednesday he has cleared a Roxboro police officer of any criminal wrongdoing after he fatally shot a man carrying a shotgun along a road in July.

David Brooks Jr., 45, was killed July 24 after police officers 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 911 caller reported a “Black guy there, he’s got a gun in front of him,” according to a copy of the call that District Attorney Mike Waters released last month.

The officer told Brooks to drop what appeared to be a rifle or a shotgun, according to dash camera video of the incident. A news release from Waters’ office Wednesday stated it was a loaded, double-barrel shotgun.

Video enhanced by the N.C. State Crime Lab, shows the encounter more clearly, the release stated, “including that Mr. Brooks raised his gun and pointed it at the officer in the seconds before the officer fired the single, fatal shot.”

“The entire encounter, from the time the officer stepped out of the car, to the time the fatal shot was fired, was approximately five seconds,” Waters wrote in the release.

Deadly force justified, DA says

In a news conference Wednesday, Waters said the officer’s use of deadly force against Brooks was justified.

He said the in-car camera helped him make his decision, confirming that “the gun was pointed in the direction of the officer.”

The gun was attached to Brooks’ body with a sling, Waters said. “At some points in the video, he does not appear to be touching the gun,” but when Brooks placed both his hands on the gun later, “It does not appear that he was trying to put the gun down,” Waters said.

Father questions shooting

Brooks’ father, David Brooks Sr., has told The News & Observer he does not think his son’s shooting was justified.

“If you give him a command, don’t you think you need to give a person time to obey the command?” Brooks asked in an interview with The N&O soon after dash-camera video of the incident was released.

“It was painful watching my son trembling till he died,” Brooks said.

Police had encountered David Brooks Jr. before. The first encounter they had was “several years ago,” the release from Waters’ office stated. The officer arrested Brooks on a misdemeanor traffic violation. “He (the officer) stated that Mr. Brooks was polite, and the encounter was uneventful,” the release stated.

More recently, the officer encountered Brooks at his home while investigating an assault by pointing a gun call at an apartment complex. “The officer said that Mr. Brooks was having a mental health crisis and that the weapon was secured and placed into evidence,” the release stated. Brooks was taken to the hospital for treatment and not charged with any crime.

There have been 165 fatal shootings by law enforcement officers in North Carolina since 2015, according to the Washington Post.

Last month, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman ruled a Raleigh police officer acted lawfully when he fatally shot Keith Dutree Collins after Collins ran from the officer carrying a BB gun.

This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 3:55 PM.