(ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.) — No charges will be filed against North Carolina sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old Black man.

Brown’s family maintains that he was “executed” by authorities as he sat in his car.  Brown was a father of seven.

Elizabeth City, North Carolina, District Attorney Andrew Womble said the three deputies who discharged their weapons at Brown were justified in using deadly force against him.

Womble said Brown drove his vehicle toward the authorities and allegedly made contact with one deputy twice before officers opened fire.

The decision based on the results of an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, said Womble.

“Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified, because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others,” Womble said Tuesday, saying Brown allegedly used his car as a deadly weapon.

The body cam footage from four of the investigators have since been released by the district attorney.

Womble adds deputies fired 14 shots at Brown and, according to an autopsy, Brown was struck twice, once in the head and the other in the shoulder.  This contests what Brown’s family has claimed in their independent autopsy, saying Brown was shot five times.

Brown’s family, speaking through their attorneys, reacted to the news and accused the announcement as an “attempt to whitewash this unjustified killing.  The family has since requested immediate intervention by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The then 42-year-old Brown was killed when deputies attempted to serve the warrants at his home in Elizabeth City on April 21. Details of what led to the shooting have not been released by authorities. Deputies were serving warrants related to felony drug charges when the shooting occurred, the sheriff’s office said.

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