Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Four North Carolina deputies involved in fatal shooting of Andrew Brown return to duty

Published 04/29/2021, 06:43 PM
Updated 04/29/2021, 06:50 PM
© Reuters. Andrew Brown Jr., who was killed by law enforcement last week, poses in an undated family photograph

© Reuters. Andrew Brown Jr., who was killed by law enforcement last week, poses in an undated family photograph

By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - Four North Carolina deputies suspended over the fatal shooting of a Black man while trying to serve him with a search warrant have returned to duty after investigators found they never fired their guns, but three others who did will remain on leave, their sheriff said on Thursday.

Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten released the names of all seven deputies placed on administrative leave after the April 21 shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., 42, in Elizabeth City, a riverfront town near the Virginia border.

Brown's family and their lawyers have accused the officers involved in the deadly confrontation of using unnecessary lethal force against someone who posed no threat and was attempting to flee, characterizing the shooting as an "execution."

They cited conclusions of a private autopsy showing Brown was shot in the arm four times through the front windshield of his car before he spun the vehicle around and was killed by a fifth gunshot to the head as he tried to get away.

The shooting, which sparked a week of protests, came a day after a Minneapolis jury returned a murder conviction in the closely watched trial of the white former police officer who killed George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes.

At a court hearing on Wednesday in Elizabeth City, District Attorney Andrew Womble disputed the Brown family's account of the shooting.

Womble said police video shows officers surrounding Brown's car and the vehicle backing up twice after a deputy tried opening a car door while others shouted at Brown to halt. Womble said deputies opened fire when Brown's car lurched forward and made "contact" with them.

Lawyers for Brown's family, along with Wooten and news outlets, have urged state investigators to release video footage captured by deputies' body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras.

But a judge on Wednesday denied petitions for immediate public disclosure of the video, while ordering investigators to allow Brown's son, Khalil Ferebee, to view the footage within 10 days. Relatives were previously shown only a 20-second clip.

Wooten said Wednesday he was "disappointed" by the ruling. But on Thursday he issued a new statement saying investigators' review of the video showed that "four of the deputies never fired their weapons and deserve to be reinstated to active duty."

"More investigation is necessary into the three deputies who did fire their weapons and they will remain on administrative leave pending completion" of a criminal probe underway by the State Bureau of Investigation, Wooten said.

The three officers who remain suspended are deputy Robert Morgan, Corporal Aaron Levelly, and sheriff's investigator Daniel Meads, who signed the affidavit accompanying the search warrant that led to Brown's death.

According to that affidavit, posted online by the sheriff, Brown was known to local law enforcement as a drug dealer suspected of being a source of crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine in and around Elizabeth City.

Narcotics investigators had carried out two "controlled" purchases of drugs from Brown by a confidential informant in March and obtained a search warrant for his home and cars seeking additional evidence of drug-dealing operations, according to the affidavit.

© Reuters. Andrew Brown Jr., who was killed by law enforcement last week, poses in an undated family photograph

(This story corrects date of Andrew Brown's shooting to April 21)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.