Check the Facts
The death of Andrew Brown, Jr. is a tragedy. His family grieves for him, and the community wants to know more about what happened. Sadly, the amount of false information in some news media reports and many social media posts has unnecessarily confused many people. Some people are purposefully spreading false information and others are being reckless. Either way, the truth matters. This page of our website will contain links to all the official county statements and public documents being released on this matter. It’ll be updated with factual information and include new documents being released.
Click here to download a copy of the Preliminary Internal Investigation Report
Click here to download a copy of the Preliminary Law Enforcement Expert Review Report
Statement from Sheriff Tommy Wooten following District Attorney Andrew Womble’s Press Conference on May 18, 2021
Click here to download a copy of Judge Foster’s order relating to the disclosure of body camera footage.
Click here to download a copy of the Pasquotank Sheriff’s Office Use of Force Policy
Click here to download a copy of the search warrant filed with the court.
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Thursday April 29, 2021
Wednesday April 28, 2021
Watch Sheriff Wooten’s Interview with local WAVY reporter Kayla Gaskins
Tuesday April 27, 2021
FALSE INTERNET RUMOR: The Pasquotank Sheriff's Office has the ability to release the body camera footage from the deputies serving the search warrant and the arrest warrant but refuses to do so.
THE TRUTH: Under North Carolina law, police body camera footage is not a public record and cannot be released to anyone without a court order. On 4/26/21 the County Attorney officially asked the Court to release the video to the family and ultimately the public. Sheriff Wooten was disappointed that the judge denied his request but respects the judge’s ruling.
FALSE INTERNET RUMOR: The Pasquotank Sheriff's Office only showed “20 seconds” of the encounter of the use of deadly force against Mr. Brown and the rest of the encounter was redacted. Or the family was “only shown a snippet” of the encounter. Or “only a small portion” of the encounter was shown.
THE TRUTH: The entire encounter of engaging Mr. Brown and the use of deadly force lasted less than 20 seconds. The family viewed the entire encounter. The family was able to watch the video 10-20 times.
Because of the ongoing criminal and internal investigations, the Sheriff’s office blurred the faces of the officers involved as North Carolina law allows. Anyone suggesting that the video was “extensively edited” is spreading a false rumor. The process of blurring faces to protect the ongoing investigations is very labor intensive and took several hours. While there is additional body camera footage showing the deputies on scene attempting to provide emergency first aid on Mr. Brown, the time needed to blur faces of the additional video would’ve delayed us from showing the family the video on Monday as they requested.
FALSE INTERNET RUMOR: The Pasquotank County Attorney bullied the lawyer for the family of Mr. Brown.
THE TRUTH: On 4/26/21, the County Attorney was allowing the family to view the body camera footage in private. Several lawyers were present who claimed to represent the family. All of these demanded to be allowed to view the footage but only one of the lawyers present is licensed to practice law or represent people in North Carolina. It is illegal to practice law in North Carolina without a North Carolina license or express court permission. When the County Attorney pointed this out and asked that only the lawyer permitted by law to represent people in North Carolina would be allowed to accompany the family, one of the lawyers --a CNN celebrity commentator not licensed in North Carolina attempted to bully the County Attorney into allowing the unlicensed attorneys into the room. The County Attorney was following the law by not permitting unauthorized practice of law.
FALSE INTERNET RUMOR: The was never an arrest warrant for Mr. Brown, only a search warrant.
THE TRUTH: On 4/20/21, a Superior Court Judge signed a search warrant and an arrest warrant for Mr. Brown. The judge issued those warrants based on probable cause to believe Mr. Brown was trafficking in dangerous narcotics -- heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine. The public can view the search warrant here.
FALSE INTERNET RUMOR: Because Mr. Brown was non-violent, there was no need for a SWAT team to be on site to arrest him.
THE TRUTH: The deputies who were serving the lawful search warrant and the lawful arrest warrant knew Mr. Brown was a convicted felon knew that he has been arrested previously on multiple occasions for resisting arrest. News reports indicate Mr. Brown had a criminal record more than 180 pages long.
FALSE INTERNET RUMOR: The use of deadly force against Mr. Brown was "an execution." He was "murdered."
THE TRUTH: This is unproven hyperbole that only inflames the community and -- should this matter ever go to court -- could bias potential jurors and perhaps interfere with a fair trial for anyone involved. An independent investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is underway and it -- along with the District Attorney's review -- will determine if any criminal laws were broken. We want answers as much as the public does but have to wait for the independent investigations to progress.
Here are previous video statements and official press releases that have been sent out by the Sheriff or other county officials.
