Cops kill armed Brooklyn man; girlfriend says victim was investigating break-in at his home

Dwayne Browne, 27, was shot once in the chest about 10:40 p.m. outside 943 Schenck Ave. in East New York and died at Brookdale Hospital at 11:46 p.m., police said.

"The officers told me they had to shoot him,'' said his girlfriend, who gave only her first name, Juanita. "They kept calling him the shooter. The officer said, 'I'm sorry. It was one of us. But he wouldn't put the gun down.'"

Juanita said she hadn’t seen him with a gun.

But Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman, said a firearm was recovered at the scene.

A police source said Dwayne Browne was shot by an officer who responded to a scuffle outside the two-family home.

The source said the scuffle involved two men trying to force a third person through the front door.

City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), who said he was briefed by police, said a woman who witnessed that confrontation called 911 and later told cops the duo ran away as officers were arriving.