District Attorney Andrew Womble announced on Tuesday that police officers were justified in using deadly force in the case of Andrew Brown. Brown, a known drug dealer with a 180-page criminal record, was shot by police in North Carolina on April 21.
The law allows officers to continue shooting even as Brown drove away, citing danger to others in the area, according to the New York Post.
BREAKING: Andrew Brown bodycam footage released. Video shows Brown driving car through group of deputies as they arrived to make arrest. pic.twitter.com/ujezgVZ6n0
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) May 18, 2021
In the bodycam footage released today, seven police officers can be seen surrounding Brown's car. Brown backs the car up, and deputies can be heard yelling, "Stop the f–king car!" Brown drives the car directly into the group of police officers, causing some to jump out of the way, and a sergeant fired a single shot through the front windscreen.
Brown then passes the officers and continues through a grassy area towards the road. The officers fired 13 times at Brown as he fled, striking him once in the arm and once in the back of the head. The autopsy showed the bullet that entered the base of Brown's skull proved fatal, and the car came to a stop resting against a nearby tree.
"To say this shooting was justified, despite the known facts, is both an insult and a slap in the face to Andrew’s family, the Elizabeth City community, and to rational people everywhere," the statement released by the family’s attorneys says. District Attorney Womble said that: "This case clearly illustrates the officers who used deadly force on Andrew Brown Jr. did so reasonably, and only when a violent felon, used a deadly weapon to place their lives in danger." The status of the seven deputies placed on administrative leave was not expressed during the press conference.