The family of an African-American killed by police last week in the United States on Monday denounced an “execution” after viewing a short clip of a video of the incident, filmed by the pedestrian camera of one of the police officers present.
Local police, for their part, claimed that the video itself was too fragmented to draw any conclusions.
“My father was executed, just trying to save his skin,” Khalil Ferebee, one of Andrew Brown Jr.’s sons, who was shot dead by police on the 21st, told reporters. April in Elizabeth City, a small town in North Carolina.
The circumstances of his death remain uncertain, but, according to local media citing witnesses, the 42-year-old African-American man and father was shot as he drove away from the officers, driving his car.
The police, who were investigating a narcotics case, were issued with an arrest and search warrant targeting Andrew Brown Jr.
His family and their lawyers were able to view an excerpt from the video filmed by the pedestrian camera of one of the officers, lasting only twenty seconds.
The footage shows Andrew Brown Jr. “had his hands firmly on the wheel, they approached his vehicle and fired,” Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, one of the family’s lawyers, said, adding that officers had “continued to shoot him as his car drove away.”
Police demanded that the video be made public and seized a judge for this purpose. A hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday, according to local television WBTV.
“This tragic accident was quick and lasted less than 30 seconds, and the video from the pedestrian cameras moves and is sometimes difficult to analyze,” Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten said on Monday.
“They only tell part of the story”, he continued, assuring that the police continued “to question witnesses and to gather more information”.
The officers involved have been placed on leave, the sheriff said.
Videos, filmed by passers-by or police pedestrian cameras, have played an important role in recent investigations into the deaths of African Americans at the hands of the police, such as recently in the trial of convicted Derek Chauvin. of the murder of George Floyd.