A district attorney in the US state of North Carolina has ruled that officers were justified in the high-profile killing of a Black man in April, and would not face charges.
Seven sheriff's deputies were involved in the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, in the eastern part of the state. He was shot while at the wheel of his car, and his death touched off protests, as have other police killings of unarmed Black people.
District Attorney Andrew Womble declared on Tuesday that Brown's death was "tragic" but "justified" based on the evidence of police body camera video, which was released to the public.
Womble said Brown ignored commands by the officers who had surrounded his car, as they tried to do a drug search and serve his arrest warrants. Womble said officers opened fire as Brown tried to directly drive into one of them.
Womble said the speed of the car did not matter, only that Brown was a clear threat, and that officers have no choice but to fire "until the threat is extinguished".
Brown's family, represented by high-profile civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, has expressed outrage that Brown was shot five times, including once in the back of the head, as shown in an independent autopsy.
The family also blasted the time it took for all the police body camera videos to be released. Police departments around the country are under increasing pressure to release body camera videos quickly in fatal shootings by police officers.
Three of the officers involved in Brown's death remain on temporary leave, while the other four have been reinstated.
Despite Tuesday's decision, the FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into Brown's killing.
