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Police Fatally Shoot Armed Brooklyn Father During Break-In Confusion
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 13, 2012
Modified Jan 13, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 13, 2012
Modified Jan 13, 2012
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A Brooklyn father was fatally shot by police yesterday while investigating a possible break-in at his home. Dwayne Browne, 27, was shot once in the chest by police around 10:40 p.m. in East New York last night. "The officers told me they had to shoot him,'' his girlfriend Juanita told the Daily News. "They kept calling him the shooter. The officer said, 'I'm sorry. It was one of us. But he wouldn't put the gun down.'"
Juanita said the couple were watching a movie when they heard noises outside their apartment at 943 Schenck Avenue. "He looked through the blinds before he went downstairs,'' she said. "He said he saw two people running away. It sounded like someone was trying to break in. He went downstairs to check it out. I heard one gunshot."
According to police sources, Browne was shot by an officer who responded to a scuffle outside the two-family home—two men had been trying to force a third person through the front door. Although Juanita said he didn't have any weapon, Police spokesman Paul Browne said he had a gun which was recovered at the scene. City Councilman Charles Barron confirmed that a woman who witnessed that confrontation called 911 and later told cops the duo ran away as officers were arriving.
After he was shot, Dwayne stumbled back upstairs: "He came back upstairs and he was bleeding,” Juanita said. "He looked at me and said, 'Baby, I've been shot.'" She claims cops rushed in, held a gun at her head, and refused to help him. "His chest was moving up and down,'' she remembered. "He was fighting for his life. "They wouldn't help him." She claims it took 30 minutes for them to get him an ambulance. A spokesman for the fire department refutes that claim—they say an EMS got to the home at 10:56 p.m., approximately 16 minutes after the shooting occurred.
Browne, who had a job installing floors for Epic Flooring, was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital at 11:46 p.m. He had a seven-year-old son. "My baby was shot. He was a working man and a father," said Browne's mother.
Tagged
break in
brooklyn
cops
dwayne browne
east new york
nypd
police
shooting
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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