An independent autopsy shows Andrew Brown Jr. died from a gunshot to the back of the head, lawyers for the family said Tuesday.

Pasquotank County Sheriff's deputies shot and killed Brown, 42, while serving a search warrant on April 21 at a home in Elizabeth City, in the northeastern corner of North Carolina.

"It was a kill shot to the back of the head," attorney Ben Crump said during a news conference Tuesday. "He posed no threat to these officers."

The FBI Tuesday announced Tuesday it was opening up its own civil rights investigation into the shooting.

Protesters have been marching daily in the city, demanding the release of body camera video from the shooting.

The family was allowed to see about 20 seconds of the video, with deputies' faces blurred.

The family's attorneys said the little video they were allowed to view showed Brown trying to drive from the scene. They say Brown had both his hands on the wheel when deputies fired the fatal shot.

Crump said the family commissioned an independent autopsy, which showed Brown was shot five times. Four of the gunshot wounds were not fatal, the autopsy showed.

Attorneys said they don't know yet how many shots were fired during the encounter, but believed it to be dozens based on what witnesses heard. 

Seven deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office are on leave after the shooting. The State Bureau of Investigations is investigating the shooting, the standard practice when officers shoot someone.

Since the shooting, Brown's family and many others, including Gov. Roy Cooper, have called for the release of the body camera footage.

Attorney Chantel Cherry-Lassiter watched a 20-second portion of body camera video with Brown’s family. Lassiter said Brown did not appear to be a threat to officers as he backed his vehicle out of his driveway and tried to drive away from deputies who had their guns drawn.

“There was no time in the 20 seconds that we saw where he was threatening the officers in any kind of way,” she told reporters at a news conference.

“My dad got executed just by trying to save his own life,” said Brown’s adult son Khalil Ferebee, who watched the video.

Attorney Bakari Sellers said there had been another camera on the house near where Brown was killed, but that camera is now missing.

Protesters are expected to march again Tuesday night, calling for the release of the video.

Under North Carolina law, body camera video can only be released to the public by a judge. Pasquotank County has petitioned the court to release the video. A coalition of media companies, including Spectrum News 1, has also asked a judge to release the video.

Elizabeth City is under a state of emergency. Protests in the city have been peaceful.

The city ordered a curfew from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday, the first time the city has ordered a curfew since the shooting.

Before the family press conference began Tuesday morning, a group who identified themselves as members of the D.C. chapter of the New Black Panthers Party marched into the square outside the county public safety center.

"No more will you continue to kill us all and we remain silent," one of the men said, speaking into a bullhorn. "We have come from far to stand before you to say, 'Black community, you don't have to be afraid no more.'"

The New Black Panthers criticised lawyers for Brown's family, interrupting the press conference and calling them "ambulance chasers."

"We are on the same side and we want justice," attorney Sellers said after the interuptions.

Rev. William Barber, a longtime North Carolina civil rights leader, is expected to speak with other pastors in the city Tuesday afternoon.

 

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