Dwayne Browne was killed in Brooklyn late last night by an NYPD officer because police say he had a gun. The 26-year-old ran downstairs because he thought his home was being robbed, according to his girlfriend. “It sounded like someone was trying to break in. He went downstairs to check it out,” she said. Then she heard a shot and Browne came back upstairs. “He looked at me and said, ‘Baby, I’ve been shot,’” Browne’s girlfriend explained to the Daily News. “The officers told me they had to shoot him …The officer said, ‘I’m sorry. It was one of us. But he wouldn’t put the gun down.’” Browne’s mother said, “He was a working man and a father.” The New York Post, ever sensitive, calls him “an armed thug.”
Update: The New York Times has a few more details about the incident, including a photo of the illegal revolver police say Browne was holding. According to City Councilman Charles Barron, some people had been at Browne’s house “to do some harm” before the police showed up. Browne “was armed, refused orders to drop his weapon and made a move that suggested his intention to fire. At that point, an officer fired once at Mr. Browne hitting him in the chest,” the Times reports, according to an account by an NYPD spokesman.
