A Virginia deputy shot a black man after he mistook a cordless phone for a firearm following a 911 call in which the suspect threatened to kill his brother.
Isaiah Brown was shot 10 times last Wednesday and remains in intensive care at a local hospital. The incident occurred after a police officer with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office gave him a ride home when Brown’s car broke down at 2:30 a.m. the same day, according to NBC Washington.
Moments later, the 32-year-old dialed 911 and told an operator he was “about to kill” his “brother” because he needed “to get to” his “s—.” During the call, Brown demanded that his brother give him “the gun,” though he told the operator he was unarmed at the time. The dispute was in response to Brown’s brother locking him out of their shared home.
Law enforcement has since released body camera footage of the event, in which a deputy, who has yet to be named, can be heard repeatedly yelling, “Show me your hands!”
NORTH CAROLINA MAN FATALLY SHOT BY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY
“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 toward me. Stop walking toward me. Stop. Stop,” the deputy continued before a volley of gunfire is audible on the video.
The police officer began to perform CPR on Brown, who was reportedly unarmed and holding a cordless phone at the time. The deputy in question was the same officer who previously drove Brown home after his vehicle broke down.
VIDEO ? Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office releases body camera footage of a deputy shooting Isaiah Brown. @newswithnatalie will have the latest coming up on @fox5dc.
Details here: https://t.co/fE84X4BEOT pic.twitter.com/46glbdMZkY
— Sierra Fox (@thesierrafox) April 24, 2021
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office released a statement following the incident but did not mention the officer’s name or other relevant details.
“At approximately 3:18 a.m., Wednesday April 21, 2021, a Spotsylvania Deputy was investigating a domestic disturbance. … While conducting the investigation, a deputy encountered an adult male,” the statement read. “During the course of that encounter, the deputy discharged his service weapon and the male suspect was struck. The suspect is currently being treated at a local hospital.”
David Haynes, the attorney for Brown and his family, called the shooting “completely avoidable.”
“After viewing the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s deputy’s bodycam video and listening to the 911 call, it is evident that the tragic shooting of Isaiah Brown was completely avoidable,” he told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “In the 911 call, Isaiah clearly told dispatch that he did not have a weapon more than 90 seconds before the deputy arrived. He told dispatch that he was walking away from the house and away from anyone else and was on the roadway by himself.”
He continued: “Isaiah was on the phone with 911 at the time of the shooting and the officer mistook a cordless house phone for a gun. 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,” adding that the deputy “made multiple, basic policing errors.”
The shooting has sparked protests in the area, and demonstrators have called for the release of the deputy’s name. Wednesday’s incident is one of several in the past few weeks that reignited calls to reform or defund law enforcement throughout the country.
The death of Daunte Wright, who was pronounced dead after former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter mistook her gun for a Taser and shot him, has led to widespread looting and rioting in the Minneapolis area. Potter has since been arrested and charged with manslaughter.
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Neither the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office nor Haynes immediately responded to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
