Agents from the FBI Charlotte Field Office “will work closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice to determine whether federal laws were violated. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further,” an FBI Public Information Officer said.
Governor Roy Cooper also said he recommends that a special prosecutor handle the case. In a statement, he said:
In the interest of justice and confidence in the judicial system, I believe a special prosecutor should handle all matters regarding the shooting in Pasquotank County. This would help assure the community and Mr. Brown’s family that a decision on pursuing criminal charges is conducted without bias. This position is consistent with the change in the law recommended by our Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice which calls for a special prosecutor in police shootings, and I believe the law should be changed to help ensure it.
In a news conference on Tuesday, attorneys representing Brown’s family said a Pasquotank County deputy executed him with a shot through the back of his head.
Preliminary findings from a privately-commissioned individual autopsy report found that the first shots came through the front window of the vehicle where Brown was seated in the driver’s seat on April 21 in Elizabeth City.
The autopsy was commissioned by a company called Autopsy PC in Boone.
A total of five bullets hit Brown. The first four grazed his right arm. The fifth was fired at an intermediate distance and went through the back of his skull and got lodged inside his head, the attorneys said.
WATCH: Attorneys reveal independent autopsy results for Andrew Brown Jr.
“So he was able to back up as these shots were coming into the vehicle. He was able to back up, turn his vehicle around, spin off across a vacant lot, and at that time he was hit in the back of the head here, and that was the fatal bullet wound that was described in the death certificate,” attorney Wayne Kendall said.
After being shot, Brown crashed into a tree.
Kendall said all of the video from the scene needs to be released so the family, attorneys and the public don’t have to piece together preliminary reports with descriptions of video and police reports.
“I think once the video actually comes out, we’re going to also find out that there were shots into that vehicle after he crashed into that tree and after he had been hit in the head,” Kendall said.
Kendall said the private autopsy also determined that Brown died within minutes of the bullet striking him in the back of the head.
Attorney Harry Daniels said law enforcement has got to stop being judge, jury and executioner for Black men in America.
“He wasn’t fleeing. Let’s get that word gone … he was trying to run because he was scared for his life,” Daniels said. “Anybody here, if you get shot at, you’re going to run. That’s bottom line.”
Brown’s son, Khalil Ferebee, spoke Tuesday. He said violence is not the key and that more violence would just make everything worse.
“Those three (sic) gunshots to the arm; that weren’t enough? That weren’t enough? It’s obvious it was trying to get away…and they’re going to shoot him in the back of the head?… That’s not right at all, man. Stuff has got to change,” Ferebee said.
The official autopsy report from the coroner’s office has not been released.
On Monday, Brown’s family was able to watch 20 seconds of redacted video from the body camera of one of the deputies present when the shooting happened.
“My dad got executed trying to save his own life,” Brown’s son said after viewing the video.
The family described the video by saying at least eight officers surrounded Brown while he sat in his own car in his own driveway. The officers blocked him in and approached him with guns pointed at him.
The family said his hands were on the wheel, even when officers started shooting.
WATCH: Raw video of the Monday news conference after family saw redacted video (contains some profanity)
As for video of the shooting, the family is still calling for law enforcement to release all of the unredacted video from the multiple body cameras as well as dash cameras at the scene. The video that the family viewed Monday has not been released
Sheriff Tommy Wooten said his department has no legal authority to comply or deny that request. He said the county attorney has filed a motion with the court to have the video released, and he said his department will comply as soon as the court gives the go-ahead.
“I want answers about what happened as much as the public does,” Wooten said Tuesday. “The private autopsy released by the family is important, and I continue to pray for them during this difficult time. However, a private autopsy is just one piece of the puzzle. The independent investigation being performed by the SBI is crucial and the interviews, forensics, and other evidence they gather will help ensure that justice is accomplished.”
WATCH: Brown’s cousin, family attorneys talk about what’s happened
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