Investigators have not commented on what role Mr. Harris’s disability may have played, but his brother said he believed his death was the product of a police department that does not know how to interact with those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“Being shot by the police is just not acceptable,” the victim’s brother, Sam Harris, who is also deaf, said through an interpreter during a video interview with Reuters. “If the officer had known that he was deaf, it would have ended differently, and he would still be around with family, and life would be going on. He’d be happy.”

But on Tuesday, Frank L. Perry, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, urged the public to “refrain from making assumptions or drawing conclusions prior to the internal and independent reviews.”

“Any loss of life regardless of the circumstances is truly a tragic and sad event for all involved,” he said in a statement. “While the Highway Patrol, the State Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney’s office conduct their respective reviews, we are keeping all those affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers.”