SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. 鈥� Body camera footage and 911 audio released late Friday appeared to show that a Virginia deputy mistook a cordless house phone held by a Black man for a gun before the deputy shot him repeatedly.
Family members said Isaiah Brown, 32, was in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds following the shooting outside a home in Spotsylvania County early Wednesday, WRC-TV reported.
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.
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 yells, 鈥渟top walking towards me, stop walking towards me鈥� and 鈥渟top, stop鈥� before firing at least seven shots.
The 911 audio shows Brown was on the phone with a dispatcher at the time the deputy arrived. The dispatcher is heard telling Brown to 鈥渉old your hands up鈥� as the sirens draw near.
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.
The release of the recordings come after family members and the ACLU of Virginia demanded they be made public.
Sheriff Roger L. 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.
Brown鈥檚 family told WRC-TV the same deputy had given Brown a ride home from a gas station after his car broke down. Tazmon Brown told the station that when they arrived, the deputy assured him that his brother was in no trouble, and had just needed a ride.
At some point later, 911 was called. Isaiah Brown 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 says, 鈥渁lright, give me the gun鈥� to which his brother is heard in the background saying, 鈥渘o.鈥� The dispatcher asks what鈥檚 going on, and Brown replied 鈥淚鈥檓 about to kill my brother.鈥�
The dispatcher says 鈥渄on鈥檛 kill your brother,鈥� and asks Brown multiple times if he鈥檚 armed. He says no.
Brown then told the dispatcher he was walking down the road. The dispatcher asks, 鈥淗ow are you walking down the road with the house phone?鈥� Brown replied, 鈥淏ecause I can.鈥�
The deputy arrived shortly after and can be heard yelling at Brown on the 911 audio. After the shots are fired, 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. Haynes, Brown鈥檚 attorney, said the family is also requesting dispatch audio leading up to the shooting be released.
The Associated Press
