Virginia Family Questions Why Sheriff's Deputy Shot Black Man 10 Times

By Associated Press

23 April 21

Relatives of Isaiah Brown, who is in intensive care, say they haven’t been given a reason why deputy opened fire

he family of a Black man shot by a Virginia sheriff’s deputy this week says he is in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds, and they have no idea why.

Relatives of Isaiah Brown, 32, spoke with Washington TV station WRC about the shooting, which happened outside their home in Spotsylvania county early on Wednesday.

Brown was unarmed, they said, and they have not been given a reason why the deputy opened fire. The encounter was recorded by the deputy’s body camera, but state police said they will not release it pending an investigation, the station reported. The disciplinary record of the officer involved is not known.

“I’m just still trying to figure out where he felt the threat at, to feel the need to shoot,” Brown’s sister, Yolanda Brown, told the station.

Brown’s family said 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. The sheriff’s department called it a domestic disturbance, but Tazmon Brown said he thinks his brother just wanted a ride back to the car so that it would not be towed. The same deputy returned and encountered Isaiah Brown walking away from the home.

Authorities provided no details about what prompted the deputy to shoot. Virginia state police, which is handling the investigation, issued a statement on Wednesday saying: “The sheriff’s deputy attempted to verbally engage Brown and it was during this encounter that the deputy discharged his service weapon.”

The TV station reported that the agency confirmed Brown was unarmed. A state police spokesman has not responded to questions from the Associated Press.

“The officer just started shooting at him for no reason. I didn’t hear a warning shot. All I heard was ‘Hands up!’ one time. And all he had was his phone, so I know he put his hands up,” Tazmon Brown said.

The ACLU of Virginia has demanded that any recordings be made public immediately.
“Our community deserves to know what happened to him,” the group tweeted late on Thursday.