By Trevor Kapp
DNAinfo Staff
BROOKLYN — Cops shot and killed an armed man who relatives said was protecting his Brooklyn home from burglars Thursday night.
Duane Browne, 26, was gunned down at 943 Schenck Ave. in East New York just before 11 p.m. Relatives said he was defending his home from the robbery.
"They just shot Duane in his pajamas," said Browne's girlfriend, Renita Ferdinand.
Ferdinand, 27, added that the cops were insensitive after the shooting.
"They sat there and let him bleed to death, asking him questions like, does he live there?" she added. "When D came back upstairs, he had a bullet in him. He told me, 'I got shot. Call the cops.'
"They didn't say nothing," she continued, referring to the cops.
Police confirmed that a 911 call came in about two masked men with guns at the address. But when officers arrived the woman who made the 911 call reportedly told police "they have guns."
The boyfriend who was allegedly assaulted then ran out of the house and was briefly taken into police custody.
"Moments later at approximately 10:50 p.m. a second male emerged from the back door with a 38-caliber revolver in his hand," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly at a Friday press conference. "He failed to comply with one of the officer's directions not to move and was shot once in the chest."
Browne was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he died, police said.
"Shoot for the arm, don't shoot to kill," said Browne's brother, Nolan Donovan. "These are people's fathers. We are not animals. We work, we have family."
Browne, who had a 7-year-old son, earned an associate's degree for a pharmacy program, his relatives said. He was currently working as a floor installer.
Early Friday, Browne's relatives had still not been allowed back in the home.
"You kill my kid and take over my house?" said Browne's mother, Alice Buinoe-Browne. "What's wrong with this picture?"
City Councilman Charles Barron, a frequent critic of the NYPD, lashed out against the cops.
"This is ridiculous. You're investigating the robbery of a house and guys are running away. Why would you not chase them?" he said at the scene. "He's coming down in his pajamas. He clearly can't be the robber."
Barron also suggested that the NYPD may be withholding crucial details about what happened.
"We want the truth," he added. "Tell the truth of what happened."
Additional reporting by Wil Cruz and Ben Fractenberg
