Newly released autopsy results confirm that Andrew Brown Jr. was killed when North Carolina sheriff’s deputies opened fire and shot him in the back of the head.
The coroner’s report released Thursday said Brown, 42, was shot twice on April 21 — once in the back of the head and once in the arm — as deputies serving a search warrant at his Elizabeth City home fired 13 times as he tried to drive off, WCTI-TV reported.
Those findings, however, differ from an independent report requested by Brown’s family, which found he was shot five times.
The medical examiner also noted that deputies tried to resuscitate Brown after the shooting. The report lists Brown’s cause of death as a homicide.
Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble announced last month that the shooting was deemed justified and said none of the deputies at the scene would be charged.
Womble said the deputies used deadly force “reasonably” while executing a drug warrant at Brown’s home, with cops saying he was a known drug dealer.
In a statement Thursday, lawyers for Brown’s family said they were not surprised by the findings in the newly released autopsy.
“The autopsy results prove what we’ve always known to be true: Pasquotank County deputies executed Andrew Brown Jr. with a kill shot in the back of the head,” attorney Ben Crump said.
“The false narrative that DA Womble has attempted to weave is completely discredited by this autopsy report,” he said.
Crump also chided authorities, saying the DA “didn’t even have the decency to share these results with the family” — who instead learned of the new autopsy from news reporters.
Bodycam footage of the deadly incident shows the seven deputies speed up to Brown’s house and yell for him to stop the car when he pulls in.
At least one deputy is seen being hit by the car before leaping out of the way.
Two of the seven deputies then open fire, with Brown crashing his car into a nearby tree.
Brown’s family maintains the deputies did not need to open fire and said the dead man was simply trying to get to safety when confronted by the armed cops.