Andrew Brown Jr. family autopsy shows he was shot 5 times, once in back of head
Attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown Jr. announced the results of an independent autopsy on Tuesday, nearly a week after he was shot and killed by police.
The autopsy showed Brown was shot five times, including one fatal shot to the back of the head, lawyers for the family said.
Brown, 42, died last Wednesday after deputies in Elizabeth City, N.C., shot him as they were attempting to execute a drug-related search warrant.
Preliminary results of the autopsy, which was commissioned by the family, found Brown had five penetrating bullet wounds: four, which were to his right arm, were considered "glancing" and not fatal; the fifth, to the back of the head, was lethal.
A bullet was lodged in Brown’s brain, said Wayne Kendall, an attorney for the Brown family, at a press conference Tuesday morning.
Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II said previously that multiple deputies fired shots during the incident. Seven officers have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated.
The release of the independent autopsy comes a day after family members viewed a portion of police body camera footage of the incident.
Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, another attorney for Brown’s family, said the video showed that Brown was in his car in his driveway with his hands on the steering wheel as police fired at him. According to Cherry-Lassiter, he backed out of the driveway as the officers continued firing and drove away, hitting a tree.
The autopsy suggests the fatal wound to Brown's head came as he was driving away, Kendall said.
"Yesterday I said he was executed," Khalil Ferebee, Brown's son, said Tuesday. "This autopsy report shows me that was correct. It’s obvious he was trying to get away. It’s obvious."
Footage of Brown's shooting has not been released to the public, despite calls to do so from local and state officials — including Gov. Roy Cooper. Under North Carolina law, the release of body camera video must be ordered by a judge.
The April 21 shooting came a day after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in the murder of George Floyd, whose 2020 killing sparked global protests against police brutality.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Brown's death.
In a statement, the FBI's Charlotte field office said that its agents "will work closely with the U.S. Attorney's Officer for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice to determine whether federal laws were violated."
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