Black man who died in fatal arrest shot 5 times: family

A Black man who was killed during a fatal arrest last week in North Carolina was shot five times, including once in the back of his head, according to an independent autopsy released by his family's attorneys on Tuesday.

The other four shots were to Andrew Brown Jr.'s right arm, and attorney Wayne Kendall said the "fatal" wound to the 42-year-old's head was delivered as Brown was "leaving the site, trying to evade being shot at by these particular law enforcement officers who we believe did nothing but a straight-out execution."

The shooting was also done in violation of standing police policy against shooting into a moving vehicle toward someone "who posed no threat whatsoever to the officers then and there on the scene," said Kendall.

Brown was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies last Wednesday in Elizabeth City when officers were attempting to execute a search and arrest warrant.

Just hours after the family's news conference the FBI announced it is opening a federal civil rights probe into Brown's death.

"Agents will work closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice to determine whether federal laws were violated," the bureau said in a statement emailed to Anadolu Agency.

It declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.