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Abbeville woman speaks out after brother was shot and killed by a Vermilion Parish Sheriff's deputy

Posted at 10:43 PM, Mar 05, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-05 23:53:50-05

Tonight we're hearing from the family of an Abbeville man who was shot and killed by a Vermilion Parish deputy this week.

It happened Wednesday on Greene Street in Abbeville.

According to state police, the deputy was there to serve an order for protective custody against Dwight Brown. When Brown opened fire, hitting a deputy, that deputy returned fire, killing Brown.

As we've learned, Brown was a military veteran who suffered from PTSD. We're learning more about his behavior in the past few weeks that led to family members calling for help.

Dwight Brown's sister says they noticed severe changes in his mental health in the past few weeks. When it reached a breaking point Wednesday, is when things went terribly wrong.

"He didn't leave the world Dwight, our Dwight, he left the world a different Dwight," his sister said.

Scarlett Brown says her brother Dwight hasn't been the same since getting out of the Army.

"I wanted a chance to sit down with him and for him to tell me what he was going through in a stable mind. I didn't want him to leave this world in that mind," she added.

Scarlett says her brother was diagnosed with PTSD.

On Wednesday he had an episode, so the family reached out to the coroner, who, under Louisiana law, can have someone involuntarily committed.

"I put details in that he has PTSD, he's diagnosed by the VA, he has medication that he does not take and I feel like they should have sent somebody who was trained that could deal with somebody in that magnitude."

Two hours after filing the report, Scarlett received a call that shots were fired when police went to her brother's house. A deputy was injured and her brother was dead.

"In that initial moment I definitely regretted it because had I not gone in and requested that they go get him he'd still be here with us had I not gone someone would've heard him or he might've hurt someone else and I did not want that. It would've been like blood on my hands."

The family is hoping they'll soon have answers.

"If it was any protocol that the Abbeville Police Department and sheriff's office didn't follow, we want justice. If it is determined that they did act as they were supposed to, we're fine with that too, but we want but we want the truth."

Brown says the family has not been able to review any video connected to the case.

As for her brother's funeral, they are awaiting an autopsy report before making arrangements.

RELATED STORIES: LSP: Officers were attempting to serve protective order before fatal Abbeville shooting

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