(Reuters) – A North Carolina sheriff whose deputy shot and killed a Black suspect last week as officers tried to serve the man with warrants has said he would seek the release of body-worn camera video of the incident as early as Monday.
Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten said he would ask the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to confirm that releasing the video would not undermine its investigation into the deadly shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City.
“Once I get that confirmation, our county will file a motion in court, hopefully Monday, to have the footage released,” Wooten said in a video posted on Saturday.
The SBI has said that its agents were working “as quickly and as thoroughly as possible” on the investigation, and noted that only a court could order the release of the videos under state law.
“We understand the need for transparency and will release what information we can when we’re able to release it,” the SBI said in a statement last Thursday.
Last week, the city council of Elizabeth City also voted to ask a court to release the video if county and state officials declined to do so.
The shooting last Wednesday, a day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for the murder of George Floyd after a highly publicized trial, triggered small, peaceful protests in the eastern, riverfront community of about 18,000 residents, half of whom are African American.
Law enforcement officials have said that Brown, 42, a convicted felon who has resisted arrest before, was shot as deputies were trying to serve an arrest warrant and search warrant stemming from a felony drug charge.
The unidentified deputy who opened fire on Brown has been placed on administrative leave, Wooten said last week. CNN on Friday cited Wooten as saying six additional deputies have been placed on leave and three others have left their jobs.
Chief Deputy Sheriff Daniel Fogg said last week that some deputies have received threats since the shooting.
(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Paul Simao)
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