SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. — A Virginia deputy shot an unarmed Black man who he had given a ride home to earlier while the man was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher.
Isaiah Brown, 32, was shot 10 times Wednesday while he was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher by a deputy who had just given him a ride home, WRC-TV reported.
Brown was taken to a hospital where he is “fighting for his life,” attorneys representing him said, NBC News reported.
“Isaiah was on the phone with 911 at the time of the shooting and the officer mistook a cordless house phone for a gun,” Ryan Julison, a spokesperson for the Cochran Firm said in a statement. “There is no indication that Isaiah did anything other than comply with dispatch’s orders and raised his hands with the phone in his hand as instructed.”
Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage of the shooting Friday. The deputy’s name has not been released.
Officer Shooting Update: https://youtu.be/HWzvEPIwoLI
Posted by Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office - Roger L. Harris Sheriff on Friday, April 23, 2021
Brown’s car had broken down at a gas station several miles from his home. He got a ride home from a deputy around 2:30 a.m. Shortly later Brown got into an argument with his brother. Brown called 911 after his brother refused to let him into their mother’s room so he could get his car keys and go home. It was classified as a domestic disturbance call for responding deputies.
Brown threatened to kill his brother while on the call with dispatchers. However, in the call Brown tells the dispatcher that he is not armed.
“Do you have any weapons on you,” the dispatcher asks.
“No,” Brown replies.
The dispatcher also seemed familiar with Brown from the earlier incident with his car.
“Your car is broken down, so why do you need your keys?” the dispatcher asked.
The deputy who responds around 3:19 a.m. is the same one who had given Brown a ride home at 2:30 a.m. He believes the phone Brown is holding is a gun.
“Show me your hands,” the deputy shouts. “Show me your hands. Show me your hands, now. Show me your hands. Drop the gun. He’s got a gun to his head. Drop the gun now. Stop walking towards me. Stop walking towards me. Stop. Stop.”
He then opens fire before rendering “lifesaving first aid,” Sheriff Roger Harris said.
Another deputy arrives and asks where the gun is.
“Isaiah clearly told dispatch that he did not have a weapon more than 90 seconds before the deputy arrived,” an attorney for Brown’s family said. “The deputy was situated nearly 50 feet from Isaiah, was never threatened and should not have discharged his weapon.”
The deputy who shot Brown was placed on administrative leave. A special prosecutor will investigate.
Cox Media Group
