A North Carolina state medical examiner’s report determined the death of Andrew Brown Jr. was a homicide after he was killed by a gunshot to the back of the head by police.
Brown, who is Black, was killed April 21 in Elizabeth City during a drug-related search warrant. Body camera footage of the encounter shows Brown reverse his car before driving forward as he attempts to flee and officers fire at his vehicle, killing him.
The state’s autopsy results released Thursday confirm Brown was killed by police just minutes after they arrived. An independent autopsy commissioned by Brown’s family in April also confirmed Brown was shot in the back of the head as he tried to flee.
Brown’s family called the killing an “execution,” but Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble said last month that three officers involved in the killing of Brown “reasonably believed” that deadly force was justified. No charges were filed against the officers.
“Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified, because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others,” Womble said at a press conference in May.
Two of the officers involved in the shooting have returned to work, and a third officer resigned from the department.
The FBI has launched a separate civil rights probe of the shooting, which remains ongoing.