A 32-year-old unarmed Black man is fighting for his life in the intensive care unit after he was shot ten times by a sheriff's deputy who responded to his 911 call in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Brown, 32, was shot by a sheriff's deputy after the deputy gave him a ride home, left and then was called back to the man's home after he called for help on Wednesday.
What Happened?
Brown's car broke down at about 2:30 a.m. at a gas station several miles from his home when the deputy, who is white, gave him a ride home. Not long after the deputy left, Brown called 911.
According to the sheriff's office, Brown called 911 over a domestic situation between him and a family member. Responding to the 911 call, the same deputy who helped Brown earlier returned. Within minutes, he opened fire, striking Brown in the his face, neck, cheek and pelvic area as he stood outside his house talking on the phone with the 911 dispatcher.
The deputy has since been placed on administrative leave and Virginia State Police is now investigating the shooting.
Bodycam Footage, 911 Call Released
Bodycam footage of the shooting has now been released to the public. In the video, the deputy can be heard saying, "Show me your hands" and "Drop the gun" repeatedly.
"He's got a gun to his head. Drop the gun now. Stop walking towards me. Stop walking towards me. Stop. Stop," the deputy says moments before multiple shots ring out. The deputy then approaches Brown and performs CPR. Brown was unarmed and had a cordless house phone in his hand.
In the 911 recording of the call Brown made in the moments leading up to the shooting, he reports a dispute with his brother and tells the 911 dispatcher he is going to kill his brother.
"I'm about to kill my brother," he says.
"Don't kill your brother," the dispatcher replies.
"Alright," Brown says.
"Why would you say something like that?" the dispatcher asks.
"Somebody needs to come here real quick," Brown says.
Brown then tells the 911 operator that he doesn't have a gun on him.
Watch the recording of the bodycam footage and the 911 call below:
Deputy Mistook Cordless House Phone for Firearm, Claims Lawyer
After the video was released, the family attorney for Brown, David Haynes, released a statement, saying that Brown's shooting was "unavoidable."
"In the 911 call, Isaiah clearly told dispatch that he did not have a weapon more than 90 seconds before the deputy arrived. He told dispatch that he was walking away from the house and away from anyone else and was on the roadway by himself," the statement read.
"Isaiah was on the phone with 911 at the time of the shooting and the officer mistook a cordless house phone for a gun. There is no indication that Isaiah did anything other than comply with dispatch's orders and raised his hands with the phone in his hand as instructed," he added.
"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."
