Andrew Brown Jr. Was Shot In The Back Of His Head, Family Says, Citing Autopsy

Andrew Brown Jr. died from a fatal gunshot to the back of head, his family and their attorneys said Tuesday, citing the results of an independent autopsy. The finding bolsters their claim that Brown was executed, the family said.

"It was a kill shot to the back of the head" that cost Brown his life, family attorney Ben Crump said on Tuesday, as his office released the results.

Brown's family commissioned the autopsy after Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, last Wednesday while carrying out search and arrest warrants at his home in Elizabeth City, N.C.

The autopsy also found other bullet wounds to Brown's body. The first shots went through the front windshield of Brown's car, attorney Wayne Kendall said, adding that Brown suffered four bullet wounds to his right arm.

Kendall described those initial injuries as "glancing" wounds. He said Brown was still able to turn his car away from the deputies, before he was shot in the lower part of his skull.

After being shot, Brown lost control of his car and crashed into a tree, Crump said. The fatal shot was fired from "intermediate" range, the autopsy report says. It notes that the bullet was left lodged in Brown's brain.

The North Carolina Office of the Medical Examiner has not released a report of its autopsy on Brown's body.

The independent results are being released one day after Brown's family was allowed to see 20 seconds of body camera footage from the deadly encounter when deputies shot and killed Brown last week.

Family members who saw a snippet of video on Monday said the deputies fired at Brown as he tried to drive away from them.

"He got executed," Brown's son Khalil Ferebee said on Monday. "It ain't right."

The autopsy was conducted by Dr. Brent Hall, Crump said.

Brown's relatives say they want to see the entire footage from the incident — and numerous political leaders and media outlets are calling for the video recordings to be released publicly.

Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II has said his office is asking a court to approve the video's release. That step is required by North Carolina law as agencies generally do not have the authority to make such recordings public.

The autopsy findings support early claims that Brown was shot from behind – recordings of radio scanner traffic from the time of the incident captured emergency personnel saying that Brown was shot in the back. [Copyright 2021 NPR]