A us-regions sheriff’s deputy shot a Black man last Wednesday about an hour after the same deputy gave the man a ride home, reports said.
Isaiah Brown, 32, was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher when the deputy responded to his house following reports of a “domestic incident,” according to a police statement.
Body camera video appears to show the deputy yelling to Brown to show his hands and “drop the gun.”
The officer, who was not identified, seems to say over his radio, “He’s got a gun to his head.”
The deputy then tells him to, “stop walking towards me, stop walking towards me” and “stop, stop” before firing his weapon at Brown.
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Spotsylvania County Sheriff Roger Harris explaining the Body camera footage and 911 audio released late Friday. (Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Brown was taken to the hospital following the shooting, according to the statement by the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office. Family members said he was in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds, WRC-TV reported.
On Friday, Brown’s attorney David Haynes said in a statement that the officer mistook a cordless house phone for a gun. He said Brown was unarmed at the time of the shooting and “did not have a weapon more than 90 seconds before the deputy arrived.”
“It is evident that the tragic shooting of Isaiah Brown was completely avoidable,” Haynes said. “The deputy in question made multiple, basic policing errors and violated established protocols. The deputy was situated nearly 50 feet from Isaiah, was never threatened, and should not have discharged his weapon.”
The same deputy gave Brown a ride home after Brown’s car broke down at a gas station earlier in the day, the station reported.
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Brown later called 911 to report a dispute with his brother. He is heard on the call saying his brother won’t let him into his mother’s room in the house, and he couldn’t get into his car. The dispatcher also tells Brown that his car is broken down and has been towed.
At one point, Brown appears to ask his brother for a gun. His brother refuses.
“I’m about to kill my brother,” he said.
“Don’t kill your brother,” the dispatcher replied, before asking Brown multiple times if he was armed. Brown said he did not have a gun on him.
Brown then told the dispatcher he was walking down the road.
“How are you walking down the road with the house phone?” the dispatcher asks.
“Because I can,” Brown replied.
Soon after, a deputy arrived to find Brown on a nearby roadway, bodycam video shows. The deputy gets out of the vehicle and orders Brown to show his hands and to “drop the gun.”
After shots are fired, the deputy is heard rendering aid to Brown.
Sheriff Roger L. Harris said the deputy was placed on administrative leave.
Virginia State Police is handling the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
