WASHINGTON (AFP) - An African-American father of 10 was shot dead by police during an investigation in North Carolina on Wednesday (April 21), local authorities said amid a surge in concern over law enforcement shootings.

Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten said one of his deputies fatally shot Andrew Brown in Elizabeth City near the Atlantic coast while a warrant against Brown was being exercised.

"It's been a tragic day," Wooten told reporters.

According to local television channel WAVY, citing witnesses, Brown was shot while attempting to flee police in his car.

Brown was 40 and the father of 10, the station said.

Wooten pledged transparency in the investigation. He said they had yet to analyse footage from body cameras worn by the police officers involved.

He said the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation would handle the case.

It came a day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder for killing George Floyd, a black man whose death last year spurred outrage across the country.

Less than an hour before that verdict came in, police in Ohio fatally shot a black teenager who appeared to be lunging at another person with a knife.

The high number of African-Americans killed by police has sparked calls for broad reforms in policing.