PASQUOTANK COUNTY, N.C. — District Attorney Andrew Womble said Tuesday that the deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. last month were justified in using deadly force, citing a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation probe. As a result, no officers will be charged in the deadly encounter.
Womble said the shooting, “while tragic, was justified because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others,” CNN reported.
Brown, 42, was fatally shot by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies in Elizabeth City on April 21 when they attempted to serve him with an arrest warrant, according to the sheriff’s office.
Womble, the district attorney for Pasquotank and nearby counties, has said Brown’s moving vehicle made contact with law enforcement officers twice before the deputies opened fire, Law Officer reported.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten put seven deputies on administrative leave. He has since reinstated four deputies he said did not fire their weapons. The three who fired remain on leave.
Brown’s family disagreed with the findings. According to CNN, the family attorneys have called for Womble to recuse himself from the case, citing “well-defined” conflicts between the prosecutor and the sheriff’s office.
Although the officers will not be charged in North Carolina, the FBI has launched a civil rights probe of the shooting, Fox reported.
