'We need to take this man off the streets': Father of man killed by Roxboro police wants officers fired
ROXBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- The usual calm demeanor of David Brooks, Sr. vanished for a few minutes Wednesday as he showed ABC11 his son's grave, in a cemetery owned by the city of Roxboro. Every other gravesite there appears recently mowed except his son's, which he believes was intentionally ignored by work crews.
At the same time, across the street from the cemetery, there's a makeshift memorial at the spot where one month ago, David Brooks fell after a Roxboro police officer shot and killed him. A member of the group Personians Against Injustice and Racism pulled grass away by hand from the candles and balloons left there by mourners.
It happened hours after community leaders sat down with Person County District Attorney Mike Waters for an update of the case.
"We met with him to find out how the investigation was going, and basically he provided us with details," said Person County NAACP head Avie Lester, Sr.
That investigation's focused on the circumstances that led to moments recorded on dashcam video, where an officer's heard telling Brooks "Drop the gun" three times in rapid succession before shooting and killing the man. But David Brooks Sr. says his son had a sling-like connection on the sawed-off shotgun over his shoulder, and believe Brooks Jr. tried to obey the officer's order before the fatal shooting.
RELATED: Dash cam video showing fatal police shooting in Roxboro that sparked protests released
He's also concerned about inappropriate comments about the shooting allegedly posted on social media by another Roxboro police officer.
"How do you think I feel?" Brooks said. "He's talking about shooting my child with buckshot in the chest, this is "his best chance of survival." No, his best chance of survival, if the officer had done his job and done the same thing as the officer who was with him, never to fire a shot! That was his best chance of survival."
We checked with Roxboro Police Chief David Hess, who wrote back in a text message "As a father, my heart grieves for Mr. Brooks and his family." He also wrote that the officer who killed Brooks' son "remains on administrative leave" and the officer accused of writing the inappropriate social media post is "currently disciplined. The discipline is not public record because the employee has an appeal process right. Please note that our staff saw the post and we took action before a public complaint was filed."
Local pastor Langston Logan said they asked the D.A. for "All the facts. Complete transparency, and keep down as much violence as possible."
Brooks wants no violence at all.
"Stay calm. Stay respectful, let's listen to what the law has to say about what has happened. Irregardless of feelings, our hurt and our pain, let's stay as a dignified people," he said. "Mr. Waters said he needed, if he gets the information today, Wednesday, He needs about 20 hours to review all that the SBI has brought to him. People, make no mistake. I believe Mr. Waters is a thorough person. He's gonna follow the law. I believe that and I trust that. At the end of the day. It's Mr. Waters' decision if this officer will be charged or not. I'm certainly asking him to charge him. What the charge will be, I don't know."
He wants the investigation's outcome to end that officer's career.
"To stop him from being able to go somewhere else, and get a job. And eventually, this same thing will happen again, with that same officer, and you'll be somewhere else interviewing someone else. We need to take this man off the streets as a police officer. How they do it, that's Mr. Waters' job. Requesting that it get done, that's my job. Hoping that Mr. Waters will send a message, across the world, that we will no longer tolerate ignorance in our police department. And that a police officer is not above the law. That a police officer, when he's stopping or detaining a subject, is not the judge, jury and (executioner). At the end of the day. It's Mr. Waters' decision if this officer will be charged or not. I'm certainly asking him to charge him. What the charge will be, I don't know."
So now the wait begins, the D.A. is expected to release charges at the beginning of next week.
Brooks asks those who support him to be patient: "Because you don't hear from me, it doesn't mean that I've quit. It's just that I want to make sure when I speak, if I move, whatever I decide to do, however, I handle it, that I've done the right thing and given them their time. I've not quit. I will never give up on my son until justice has been served."
