HUDSON, FL (WFTS) — Family members of a man shot and killed by a Pasco County deputy are questioning what led to Brandon Whitworth’s death and whether the deputy needed to use deadly force.
The shooting happened Friday at a shopping plaza in Hudson.
Watch report from Erik Waxler
“They murdered my brother. There was no de-escalation. No get on the ground. Where was the taser?” Whitworth’s brother, Daniel Whitworth, said.
Daniel Whitworth said he returned to the scene as he struggled to come to terms with his brother’s death.
“I came up here Saturday. I don’t know how long. I cried.”
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to the Hudson shopping plaza Friday after receiving a call about an “agitated subject outside of a business.”
Deputies found Whitworth behind a gas station. The Sheriff’s Office says he had a 7.5-inch butcher knife and refused commands to drop it.
“Put it down,” the deputy can be heard saying in body-camera video released by the Sheriff’s Office.
The deputy can be heard telling Whitworth five times to drop it before firing his gun.
The Sheriff’s Office released only a portion of the body-camera video. Tampa Bay 28 did not show the moment Whitworth was shot.
Tampa Bay 28 asked the Sheriff’s Office specifically about the family’s questions over whether Whitworth had a knife visible in his hand when the deputy opened fire.
The Sheriff’s Office said Whitworth switched the knife to the hand holding a bag and continued to hold it there.
Daniel Whitworth disputes that interpretation of the video.
“He went to shooting the gun too fast. He did. Anybody that sees that video and realizes there was no knife in my brother’s hand. It might have been in the bag, I don’t know but he went to firing real fast for no reason.”
Questions about the shooting have also spread online, where people are calling for “Justice for Brandon” and offering different accounts of what happened at the shopping plaza.
“I’ve got people contacting me that I’ve never met, and I think it’s really cool how this community is rallying around my brother,” Daniel Whitworth said.
“Brandon took one casual, calm step to his left, away from the officer, and that’s when the officer opened fire. The video says what it says," said Daniel Hall.
“I don’t have nothing,” Whitworth can be heard saying after he was shot.
Those are the last words Whitworth can be heard saying in the video released by the Sheriff’s Office.
“We will never let this go. There is going to be justice for Brandon here in Pasco County,” said Rhoda Toth Whitworth Hall, Brandon's sister in-law.
The Sheriff’s Office says Whitworth never attacked the deputies but says deputies were concerned about the safety of other people in the shopping plaza.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now handling the investigation into the deputy-involved shooting.
Tampa Bay 28 emailed FDLE with additional questions about what happened but had not received a response as of Monday afternoon.
Records show Whitworth had a lengthy criminal history. His family says he also had a history of mental health issues and had recently been helping family members with home projects.
Daniel Whitworth acknowledged his brother had problems but said that does not change his questions about how the encounter ended.
“It’s pretty hard. I’m not saying my brother was the best person. But he didn’t deserve to be murdered. He damn sure didn’t deserve to be murdered.”
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