SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. -- The first time you seeIsaiah Brown in body camera footage, the 32-year-old man has already been shot multiple times by a Spotsylvania County sheriff’s deputy.
Investigators said the deputy was responding to a domestic disturbance call at a home in the 10000 block of West Catharpin Road around 3 a.m. Wednesday. The video footage and 911 audio were released by the sheriff’s office late Friday.
In the 911 call, Brown can be heard threatening to kill his brother while on the phone with the dispatcher. However, Brown also said on the call that he was not armed.
The audio recording shows Brown was on the phone with a dispatcher at the time the deputy arrived. The dispatcher is heard telling Brown to “hold your hands up” as the sirens draw near.
The body camera video shows the deputy arriving at the scene and yelling at Brown to show his hands. The deputy then yells, “drop the gun,” multiple times and appears to say over his radio, “he’s got a gun to his head.” The deputy then yells, “stop walking towards me, stop walking towards me” and “stop, stop” before firing at least seven shots.
It is unclear whether the deputy knew Brown told the dispatcher he wasn’t armed or knew Brown was walking down the street with a cordless house phone.
Family members said Brown was in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds following the shooting, according to WRC-TV.
David Haynes, the attorney for Brown’s family, said he was actually holding a cordless home phone and talking to 911 when the deputy fired seven shots. He called the shooting "completely avoidable."
Spotsylvania Sheriff Roger Harris said in a video statement that the deputy, who he said “immediately rendered lifesaving first aid” to Brown and has not been identified, is on administrative leave.
“At the recommendation of the commonwealth's attorney, a special prosecutor in this case was appointed,” Harris said.
Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting.
The local chapter of the NAACP helped negotiate the release of the footage and 911 call.
Julius Spain with the Virginia State Conference NAACP said that while an independent review of the incident is a good start, questions remain unanswered.
“I’m really curious to know when the call came in, what were the conversations between the dispatcher and the sheriff who showed up on the scene,” Spain said.
