JUST IN: Bodycam Footage from Andrew Brown Police Shooting Released; DA Says Cops Were ‘Justified’

Bodycam footage from the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. has just been released, and it came with an announcement that the officers involved will not be charged over the fatal confrontation.

Pasquotank County district attorney Andrew Womble held a press conference on Tuesday, which he led with a statement that “Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies with the county sheriff’s office to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others.”

Brown’s death occurred last month when officers approached him at his house with a search and arrest warrant for drug-related charges, and he was shot dead as he tried to drive away.

“As tragic as this incident is with the loss of life, the deputies on the scene were nonetheless justified in defending themselves from death or great bodily injury,” Womble said. “My review of the incident indicates there is no evidence that the deputies who fired the fatal shots acted in any manner that is inconsistent with the threat they perceived and certainly no evidence that the deputies acted in any way contrary to or in violation of North Carolina law.”

The Brown shooting occurred during a period of renewed national unrest over racial injustice and police brutality. There was a great deal of commotion about the police’s initial reluctance to release body cam video from the Brown shooting, but his family was given an early view of the footage, and they decried his death as an “execution.”

CNN covered the presser live, and when John King took the wheel on the coverage for Inside Politics, he warned that he was about to air the “graphic” bodycam footage released to the media after being granted permission by the court.

I want to make clear, this was released by the prosecutor. We are not certain of its context, its full context. It does show some of the fatal encounter between sheriff’s deputies. It shows officers approaching Mr. Brown’s car, shouting ‘stop!’ The car then starts to drive away, and the officers begin to fire. We’re going to show you this. It’s just shy of a minute. Just want to caution you, some of what you’re about to see is quite graphic.

Watch above, via CNN.