Official autopsy for Andrew Brown Jr. lists cause of death as gunshot to back of head
The official state autopsy for Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed during a confrontation with police outside his home in North Carolina, lists his cause of death as homicide resulting from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
The North Carolina medical examiner’s report, obtained Thursday by WTVD, lists 42-year-old Brown’s time of death at 8:33 a.m. on April 21— just minutes after deputies with Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office arrived to serve a warrant for his arrest in a drug case.
Bodycam video recorded during the confrontation shows officers standing in the back of a pickup truck as it approaches Brown, who was seated in a parked car outside his home in Elizabeth City at the time. As soon as they spot him, the deputies leap from the bed, weapons drawn, and continue in his direction on foot while repeatedly shouting orders, according to the short clip.
From there, Brown begins reversing his vehicle away from deputies and appears to slightly graze a nearby officer.
District Attorney Andrew Womble said the first person to fire at Brown’s car was a sergeant, who discharged a single round through the front windshield. Others followed suit and opened fire as Brown attempted to drive away from the group of officers.
The state medical examiner’s recent findings are mostly in line with an independent autopsy conducted by Brown’s family, which revealed he was struck by five bullets while he sat inside his car. The first four hit Brown in his right arm, but the responding officers continued to shoot — even as Brown backed up and attempted to escape.
The final deadly shot was a “penetrating gunshot” to the back of Brown’s head, according to the family’s lawyer, Ben Crump.
The key difference between the two reports is the number of times Brown was struck amid the gunfire. While the family’s autopsy concluded he was shot five times, the medical examiner said he was hit just twice — once in the head and once in the arm.
The prosecutor’s office has since ruled that none of the seven officers involved will face charges and that the fatal shooting was justified
“Brown’s precise speed in attempting to flee and striking deputy Lundsford is uncertain,” Womble said at the time. “But that he drove recklessly and endangered the officers, is not uncertain. Therefore I find that Brown’s actions and conduct were indeed dangerous by the time of the shooting.”
One of those deputies has resigned while two others have returned to work.
