Andrew Brown shot dead by 'kill shot to back of head' while fleeing police, attorney says as release of body-cam clip looms

Andrew Brown, a black man from North Carolina, was shot by police with “a kill shot to the back of the head” as he attempted to drive away, the family’s attorney says. The police were carrying out a search warrant at the time.

According to the legal team for Brown’s family, which conducted an independent autopsy, the 42-year-old resident of Elizabeth City died due to a gunshot wound to the back of his head. There were also four bullets found in his arms.

Emphasizing that the “kill shot” was to the back of the head, rather than the front, the Brown family lawyer insisted this was a clear sign the man was trying to flee because he was “scared for his life.”

Elizabeth City has essentially locked down in preparation for the violent unrest local authorities are expecting – from city offices to public schools – to engulf the city as has happened in other cities scarred by race-based violence, such as Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

The family has complained they were only shown a 20-second clip of the entire body-cam video and lamented that shots were clearly being fired already at the point where the camera footage began. 

The dead man was already in his car with his hands on the steering wheel, the footage showed, raising questions as to the sequence of events. 

Promised a look at the body camera video – while merely having access to the brief clip – Brown's family filed their lawsuit as a last resort when the police department failed to respond to their questions further. 

His son Khalil Ferebee has unequivocally called the scene "an execution." 

However, a judge's signature is required to have body camera footage released to the public in North Carolina.

The FBI also announced on Tuesday it would open a federal civil rights investigation to see if any federal laws were violated in the shooting. Brown had allegedly been selling drugs to a confidential informant who police had been working with for a year, according to local media.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!