ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A North Carolina prosecutor said Tuesday that sheriff's deputies were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr. because he struck a deputy with his car and nearly ran him over while ignoring commands to show his hands and get out of the vehicle.

District Attorney Andrew Womble said at a news conference that Brown used his car as a “deadly weapon,” causing Pasquotank County deputies to believe it was necessary to use deadly force. Womble, who acknowledged Brown wasn't armed with guns or other weapons, said the deputies will face no criminal charges after he reviewed a state investigation of what happened.

Brown's family released a statement calling Womble's decision “both an insult and a slap in the face.”

The shooting has prompted weeks of protests in Elizabeth City and calls for transparency.