The Spotsylvania Sheriff鈥檚 Office in Virginia released body camera footage and 911 audio Friday night of the recent officer-involved shooting of a 32-year-old Black man.
The recordings the deputy mistook a cordless house phone held by Isaiah Brown for a gun before the deputy shot him repeatedly.
Brown was shot Wednesday morning at approximately 3:19 a.m. by a deputy who was responding to a domestic disturbance call, Sheriff Roger Harris said.
He survived the shooting, but is in critical condition at a Fredericksburg hospital.
In a statement, police said Brown鈥檚 family viewed the video and heard the 911 call before its release. Both were made public at the recommendation of Fredericksburg Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney LaBravia Jenkins.
In the 911 call, Brown tells the female operator to send police to his home on Catharpin Road.
He is heard on the call saying his brother won鈥檛 let him into his mother’s room in the house, and he can鈥檛 get into his car. The dispatcher tells Brown that his car is broken down and has been towed.
Brown then said, 鈥渁ll right, give me the gun鈥� to which his brother is heard in the background saying, 鈥渘o.鈥� The dispatcher asked what鈥檚 going on, and Brown replied 鈥淚鈥檓 about to kill my brother.鈥�
The dispatcher said 鈥渄on鈥檛 kill your brother,鈥� and asked Brown multiple times if he鈥檚 armed. He said no.
Brown then told the dispatcher he was walking down the road. The dispatcher asked, 鈥淗ow are you walking down the road with the house phone?鈥� Brown replied, 鈥淏ecause I can.鈥�
The body camera video shows the deputy arriving at the scene and yelling at Brown to show his hands. The deputy then yells, 鈥渄rop the gun,鈥� multiple times and appears to say over his radio, 鈥渉e鈥檚 got a gun to his head.鈥�
The deputy then yelled, 鈥渟top walking towards me, stop walking towards me鈥� and 鈥渟top, stop鈥� before firing at least seven shots.
The deputy is heard rendering aid to Brown and instructing the brother to get a first aid kit out of his patrol vehicle.
It鈥檚 unclear whether the deputy knew Brown told the dispatcher he wasn鈥檛 armed or knew Brown was walking down the street with a cordless house phone.
鈥淚t is evident that the tragic shooting of Isaiah Brown was completely avoidable,鈥� Brown鈥檚 attorney David Haynes said in a statement Friday.
鈥淭he 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,鈥� Haynes said.
He said the family is requesting dispatch audio leading up to the shooting be released as well.
The release of the recordings comes after family members and the ACLU of Virginia demanded they be made public.
Sheriff Harris said in the video that accompanied the release that a special prosecutor had been appointed to the case and advised that the recordings be released.
Harris said the deputy, who has not been identified, has been placed on administrative leave and Virginia State Police is handling the investigation.
reported that the same deputy who shot Brown had given him a lift home from a gas station about an hour earlier, after his car broke down.
Before the video and audio release, between 25 and 30 people went to the sheriff鈥檚 office to voice their concerns about the shooting before heading to the hospital to hold a vigil for Brown, Spotsylvania County NAACP President Moe Petway told 草莓传媒.
Petway said, while he was impressed by the release of the audio and body camera footage, he hoped authorities can remain complete and transparent as the investigation continues.
鈥淲e want a thorough investigation,鈥� said Petway.
鈥淲e want them to take their time and look at the video. We want the special prosecutor to make sure they are transparent. Remain transparent, no matter what the outcome is, and do it as soon as possible but thorough. And then, present to the community what happened concerning this incident.鈥�
草莓传媒鈥檚 Dick Uliano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
